Will Last Your Entire Lifetime
by bodzaital
Summary: Lena Shepard's journey from her youth through everything that made her the woman she is. Rating may go higher as the story advances, not necessarily follows ME storyline.
1. Episode 1: A New Day

**Will Last Your Entire Lifetime**

**First Segment: New**

**Episode One: A New Day**

A twelve year old girl ran down the stairs and arrived into the house's living room. Her mother already waited for her on the couch, reading something on a tablet. The little girl hopped on the couch as well, hugging her mother and saying, "Good morning!" The girl's hair reached her shoulders, and was dark red. She looked at her mother, and then her attention drifted to some boxes wrapped in purple paper under a Christmas tree. She knew about the tree, she decorated yesterday with her friend, showing human customs.

The boxes however were unfamiliar to her. There were a total of six boxes, with varying sizes, four in purple, one in green and one in typical Christmas wrapping. The girl looked back at her mother, who nodded and said, "Go on!"

The girl jumped up, then quickly went to the tree, and sat down. Her mother took pictures everytime she opened a box. When the girl opened the last box, it contained a smaller one, not wrapped in anything. The box said Ariake Tech, so the girl could assume what's in it. "It couldn't be…" She said, while carefully opening the box, containing a brand new omni-tool.

"Merry Christmas, Lena." Her mother, Hannah said. The Shepard family unfortunately only consisted of the mother and daughter, Lena's father died before they arrived to the colony of Mindoir. Hannah is working at an omni-tool game developer company, who gave out free omni-tools to workers for Christmas. And Hannah not interested in gaming, gave it to her daughter.

"Thank you!" She said while carefully putting the omni-tool onto a table. Lena and Hannah sat down to a chair, and Hannah showed her daughter how to use it.

"You have to press this button," she said, pointing to the omni-tool, "then have it nearby. The interface should appear." Lena held the small device, and then turned it on. A large orange hologram appeared on her arm and hand, almost covering her skin. Numbers rolled on it until it finished booting, and then the characteristic user interface appeared. Lena slowly touched the hologram, making the interface change. "It also comes with our newest game, they told me." Hannah added, while helping her daughter.

"Thank you, I love it." She said. Lena didn't know her father, because he left Hannah just before Lena was born.

. . .

_She was inside something… The walls were made out of cold metal. It took a moment, but she realized she was inside a starship. She looked at herself. She wasn't young, or that young, she was nearly thirty and wore a black hoodie with white and red stripes on the right hand side sleeve. She spotted a familiar figure at the opposite end of the corridor. As she looked at the mysterious female, she felt warmness inside, and a force made her walk closer and closer until she was within an arm's reach. She hugged the mysterious female, _just before she jolted awake in her bed.

Although it wasn't a nightmare, Lena felt frightened of something, but she couldn't pinpoint what. Next day was school day, and she needed to sleep, so she lied down, but she couldn't fell asleep.

. . .

It was a Monday in the colony's primary school. A quarian family's daughter went to the same school as Lena. The quarian family was moved from the Migrant Fleet as an interspecies collaboration, where various species visit and live on other's colonies. The first one to arrive on Mindoir was the quarian Vael clan, and as they were the only non-humans on the planet, Lia'Vael had to learn in a human-school.

As she didn't really understand human literature, history, or other things, she asked the most kind person in the class, which happened to be Lena. They became friends, and spent most of their free time together. Today they learned about the start of the Citadel Council Era, so Lena asked for a help on the subject. They talked about it in a class-break.

"So, you're saying that the council was established by the asari and salarians? I thought they're the same race." Lena said.

"No. The asari is the all-female race; the salarians are what your people call, 'greys'." _All female race, hm? _Lena thinks.

"But the asari was living on the Citadel for nearly sixty years. Why didn't they make a council when they arrived?"

"Have you learned it? The asari didn't have any connection between… city-states. So when the salarians found the Citadel, the Asari High Command was formed to oversee the colonization of the station."

"I see. And they made contact with the volus, elcor, batarians, and hanar and…" Lena said, and she kept thinking of the last race the teacher said. Lia looked at her, and although Lena didn't saw her face, she was looking at her quizzically.

"The quarians." Lia finally said.

"Ah, yes, sorry."

. . .

"Kids, a new teacher will replace me on history classes," said the class's human teacher, "I'll still teach you everything other than history. And now I'd like to introduce you to Oline T'Yeo." The human teacher said, and then an asari walked inside to the classroom through the door. She had deep purple markings on her face, and her skin color was light blue. Lia and Lena exchanged looks.

"Good morning." She said, waving slightly at the class consisting of 21 children. There were 16 girls, and 4 boys, not counting the quarian children.

"Ms. T'Yeo will teach you specifically non-human history, starting today with the geth war, if I recall correctly."

"Yes, indeed, and actually after that, we're going to learn the human expansion."

"Oh, yes, sorry." She said, and then the school's bell rang. The children left the classroom, Lena and Lia went out to the school garden.

"What do you think of Oline?" Lena asked.

"I don't know. An asari will teach us the geth war… I don't know." She answered.

"Why?"

"Many think that we caused it." Lia answered. They went back to the building to history class with the new teacher.

. . .

"So the quarians created the geth, but they turned against them. As the geth is synthetic, they outnumbered the quarians, which made them abandon their homeworld, and live on their fleet, today called the Migrant Fleet."

"So that's why they weren't granted a seat in the council?" Lena asked the teacher.

The asari looked at the young human female, "No, a council seat is granted to those who can defend the galaxy as a whole."

"But the quarians had and have the largest fleet in the galaxy. Larger that the turians'!" Lena argued with her.

"Well, I don't know the specifics, but the turians' help with the Genophage made them an obvious choice."

"I'm glad there isn't a krogan here…" Lena said quietly.

"Can we go on? Thank you." Oline said, and then showed a map of the galaxy on a holo projector. "And then the council closed the quarians' embassy in punishment that they created the geth and let them loose. Since then the Conventions forbid any artificial intelligence research." Said Oline, and the school's bell rang for the last time this week. Everybody flowed out of the classroom, but a group of five children stopped Lia.

"So your people are responsible for the geth?" Someone asked. Lia tried to go past them, but they kept her inside the classroom. Seeing the confrontation, Oline quickly rushed to the group, helping Lia get out.

"Enough!" She shouted at the human children. "You are coming with me to the principal's office; sorry, Lia."

Lia walked away with sadness; her eyes were locked on the floor as she held her books in her three fingered hand. As soon as she steps out of the door, Lena steps in front of her, making her to look up.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Ah, nothing." Lia answered, and looked at the ground; Lena felt the sorrow coming from the young quarian girl.

"Is your invitation to go to your place still holds?" She asked, still looking at the ground.

"Of course. In fact, we should go right now!" Lena answered her. She grabbed the quarian's arm, the started gently pulling her towards the tram which would take them to the district they live in.

They walked to the tram, which took them to the outskirts of the colony. Lia and her parents lived in the same street as the Shepards. The travel with the tram took thirty minutes, and while doing so, the friends watched a movie on Lena's omni-tool about a turian's and a quarian's relationship, the Fleet and Flotilla. It was a perfect choice, Lena always like romance movies.

Thirty minutes later they stepped into the Shepard house. The houses in the street were the same, except their interior. The Vael house's interior walls were covered with carpets, and drawings, opposed to the Shepard house's walls, which were only covered with wallpapers, which seemed a bit dry to her taste.

Hannah was home, watching a movie in the living room. She never met Lia, so she was surprised when Lena appeared with the young quarian in the door. She stood up, and lack of a better shake hands with her.

"Mom, this is Lia'Vael. Lia, this is Hannah Shepard, my mother." Lena introduced her.

"I'm so glad I finally meet with you. Lena told me a lot about you." Hannah said, with a wide smile.

"Thank you." Lia said through her air filter, but Lena was already pulling her toward her room. "Your mother seems nice." Just as she said her last sentence, a furry little thing ran in front of her. Losing her balance, she grabbed Lena's hand to stay on her feet, but instead she made Lena fall as well.

A few seconds passed while Lena lied on Lia. The quarian girl then tried to stand up, and quickly looked around. "What was that?" She asked her human friend.

"Oh, I think Lily found us." She answered her while standing up. Lia quickly looked around in hope to find a person. "She's a cat." Lena added.

"A what?" The quarian girl asked.

"A cat. Little, black and white animal." Lena explained to her.

. . .

_Lia left Lena a couple of hours ago. The human girl slept in her bed, but then, something awakened her. She opened her eyes, and then observed the dark room. It was different, so metallic and cold. She pushed the cover away, and stood up. The sudden realize of her height made her loose her balance for a second, but she didn't fall. She heard someone walking outside the room. "Mommy?" She asked, but her voice wasn't that high pitched as she was used to. She had a voice, similar to her mother's but not as deep._

_She approached the door, and then opened it by pushing the green holographic interface. The door opened with a hiss, revealing a metallic corridor. Lena saw a female figure walking away from her. "Hey!" She shouted to the person. The mysterious person turned around. Lena recognized the face; it was an asari._

_The blue woman walked closer and closer to the human, and was within half of a meter when Lena _awakened again to find herself in her room with her mother sitting on the bed.

"I heard you speaking so I came in to see what's happening." Hannah said. She hugged her crying daughter and whispered into her ears, "It's okay, I'm here…"

"What was I saying?" She asked her mother. Hannah released the embrace. Lena looked directly into her mother's blue eyes.

"I thought you called me, but when I arrived you shouted something, like, 'Hey'. And then you woke up." Hannah saw the realization on Lena's face, so she asked, "Could you tell me what were you dreaming about?" Lena just looked out on the window. It was raining, which somehow made the young girl comfortable. "It's okay, you can tell me…"

After long seconds, Lena finally started speaking, "I-I think I dreamt about sleeping here, then waking up on a starship… It didn't make any sense."

"Anything else?" Hannah asked.

"I was older."

"How much?"

"Like Ms. T'Yeo." She said. Although Oline was more than 200 years old, the children believed she was nearly 27; her mother knew it as well.

It was two in the morning, and school started at nine thirty. Hannah was with Lena for a little longer, until the young girl sobbed herself to sleep.

. . .

The next class in school was human history, and it was Lena's turn to help out Lia, but the quarian girl found Lena a little distracted. "Is everything okay?" She asked while they sat on a bench in the school's garden.

"Yeah, everything is alright." Lena answered. "Where did we left off?"

"We learned about… what you call it… Ro'män Empire?"

"Yes, of course; the fall of the Roman Empire."

"There is something wrong with you." Lia said.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please don't lie to me, Lena." Lia said, while touching Lena's shoulders. Lately, any physical contact with anyone made Lena uncomfortable. And to make things worse, a boy from the class, Jordan, seemed to like Lena, and always wanted to find a way to be with her. He was fond of the idea of touching everybody. But Lena didn't felt the same, and maybe she was still very young to truly love somebody, she didn't like any boy from the class; she always tried to befriend with the girls.

"Okay, okay. I had a nightmare last evening."

"About what?" Lia asked curiously.

"Nothing important." Lena said. She was overprotective with her nightmares, and saying this problem to her best friend made her uncomfortable. Not wanting to press on the subject, Lia friendly took Lena's hand, and made her walk back to the classroom.

The class seemed boring for the class, except the quarian girl. She listened to the asari teacher talking about human history like she listened to her mother's stories every evening. She was so hard-working, that Oline gave Lia an A. She was really glad.

After class, Lia wanted to go home with Lena, but she didn't find the girl. She was looking at the long corridors of the school, but the young human girl seemed disappeared. Lia had time to think about the time she lived here, which wasn't long. For the first time she wanted to speak with humans on her native language, which would've been good if the humans would've had translators, so her family had to buy a translator for themselves.

Lena was kind enough to buy her own translator, which allowed Lia to talk with Lena on her native language, and vice versa. Lena sometimes turned her translator off, so she could learn the khelis language from Lia.

Lia's thoughts were interrupted by someone's cries. The young quarian looked around to see where the sound originated from. The cries were deep, probably a human male's. Turning to the right on a corridor, she found the starting point of the crying: a boy, sitting beside the wall, holding his head between his knee, and his arms around his head.

Lia approached him carefully. She put down her books by him, and then turned on her translator. "Hey, can I help you?" She asked quietly yet loud enough for the boy to hear it. "What's your name?"

The boy's head ascended and he looked at the quarian's bright white eyes. "It's Jordan." He answered her.

"And why are you crying?" She asked, sitting down as well.

"It's nothing."

"Don't tell me. There must be a reason, otherwise you won't be crying."

"A girl just rejected me." He said very quietly. Lia wouldn't hear it, but the audio transmitters within her suit amplified the sound.

"And who was that?"

The boy looked down, covering his head again, and quietly whispered, "Lena Shepard."

The children weren't aware that a teacher heard their conversation, and was listening through a door. The class teacher admired the quarian, how could she handle such a situation. She opened the door, and interrupted the students.

"What's the problem, Jordan?" She asked.

"He's having problems, Ms. Clarke." Lia answered before Jordan could.

"And what kind of problems do you have, Jordan?"

The boy slowly stood up, and so did Lia. "Nothing. Can I go?" He asked.

Ms. Clarke thought about it for a moment, but let them go. At the moment Jordan was out of Lia's sight on the long corridor, a message appeared on her omni-tool.

_From: Lena Shepard  
To: Lia'Vael nar Ulnay_

_Subject: Sorry_

_I had to go before you could, I'm sorry. Can we meet at the hill at 6?_

_Lena_

_From: Lia'Vael nar Ulnay  
To: Lena Shepard_

_Subject: RE: Sorry_

_Yes, and I spoke with Jordan, he is really sad. What did you do to him?_

_Lia_

Lia reread the message, and then hit the send button. She hoped the human didn't do anything that harmed him in any ways.

. . .

Lia thought about what Lena could do with Jordan while she walked home. The weather was nice; a little wind blew the trees that surrounded the street. Lia carried several books in her grey shoulder bag. The peaceful environment of the colony seemed more peaceful than the busy life in the Migrant Fleet.

In the fleet, you had to be a productive member of the society. On the colony, it wasn't that hard; children didn't have to work 'till they graduated from school. Lia's thoughts on Jordan drifted to her studies in the primary school. Her most favorite class was history, and inside it, the human part. She loved to hear stories about the great empires the humans used to have. It reminded her the quarian history from thousands of years ago, when they still had a homeplanet.

The thoughts were cut when her three fingered leg stuck in a bump on the sidewalk. She fell forward, right onto her faceplate; books from her shoulder bag got spilled out. Her reflexes made her to turn to her back, and cover her face with her hands. She quickly calmed down when she felt only minor scratches on the faceplate.

A human saw she fell, and he quickly ran to help. "Are you okay?" He asked the young quarian, who tried to stand up.

"Yes, just my leg hurts." She answered. Her leg was swollen, but the suit didn't rupture.

"Are you sure? I can take you home, if you want." The human offered. As they were the only non-humans on the planet, almost everyone knew the Vael family.

"No, thank you, I'm living near here." She answered again. The human looked at her again, and then left.

Lia's books were around her in a circle. She quickly collected them, and then sat down on a nearby bench. The wind blew a little bit stronger as she tried to move her leg. She quickly hissed when she tried to put her hands on the swollen bit. Realizing that she won't make the last kilometer, she turned on her omni-tool to ask for help.

But who to call, she thought. Her parents would be overprotective, so she ended up by sending a message to Lena.

_From: Lia'Vael  
To: Lena Shepard_

_Subject: Help_

_Could you help me? I fell, and I can't walk. Could you come here to help me? I'm sending you the NavPoint._

_Lia_

. . .

"So how was your day?" Hannah asked as she made some snacks for her only daughter. She was in a large kitchen, separated by the living room with a wall and a door.

"Not good, actually." Lena answered, referring to her tiff with Jordan.

"Why?"

"He admitted that he loves me."

"And that's bad?" Hannah asked smiling. She finished with cutting the palps, a native fruit on Mindoir.

"No. Something happened that shouldn't have." She said.

As she gave Lena the plate, she sat down by her daughter, and frighteningly asked, "What happened?"

"I became so angry that a jolt of electricity hit him. I think it came from me... It hurt." She said. It was hard to look at her mother, because she thought she might be angry because of her uncontrolled actions.

Hannah got into a hard position. She always wanted to tell her daughter the truth, but she never really found the perfect time, but daughter's nightmares, her behavior in the past and now this made her to do it.

"You know," she started, and touched Lena's face, wiping away a tear that has slid through her face, "when I was… conceived with you, there was an accident where your father was working. I was visiting him, but then an eezo tank exploded, as I was walking by the storage room. The doctors said that my unborn child was dead." She had to stop, because tears already formed in her eyes, and her voice faltered.

She took a deep breath, and then continued. "When your father heard that the child was dead, he broke all contact with me. I guess he couldn't live with the consequence that he might've caused all this. I had to go back to your grandparents. When I went in the hospital for the surgery, reports showed that the child wasn't dead, in fact, eezo nodules have been appeared." She had to stop once again, but when she started to continue, her daughter started speaking.

"And that became me." She said, and looked forward.

"Yes. The eezo nodules made that jolt of electricity. If trained these accidents won't happen as well more abilities can be taught. But I thought it would be too soon."

"Well, I guess I always wanted to be a biotic…" She said, and stood up. "I have to think this through. Mind if I take a walk outside?"

Thinking that her daughter will need time to process the information, she agreed. "No problem, but be back for dinner. Bye."

"Bye" She said, then closed the front door.

Lena always dreamed a day when she possessed such biotic powers. She dreamed that at one day, when she will be older, she would help everyone on Mindoir with her abilities. But realizing how painful it is, she just wanted it to go away.

The planet orbiter a binary star: a blue and an orange one. As Lena looked up at the sky, she got lost in the beauty of the two suns. She sat down on a bench in a park near their house, closed her eyes, and let the sun shine her skin. Even the fresh spring winds couldn't suppress warmth of the sunshine.

As she enjoyed the sunshine, she heard her omni-tool chirping, and it blinked online. She opened her eyes, but her vision was blue thanks to the sun shining right onto her face. She needed a few seconds to clearly read the message on the orange holographic interface.

_From: Lia'Vael  
To: Lena Shepard_

_Subject: Help_

_Could you help me? I fell, and I can't walk. Could you come here to help me? I'm sending you the NavPoint._

_Lia_

Seeing the importance of the message, Lena stood up, looked around, and started to run towards the NavPoint, and replied through voice recognition.

_From: Lena Shepard  
To: Lia'Vael_

_Subject: RE: Help_

_I'll be right there._

_Lena_

. . .

Lia has been sitting on the bench with her aching leg for a good fifteen minutes, until Lena arrived. She saw the human girl running toward her on the side-walk. Lena's semi-long red hair waved in the wind as she ran.

"Are you okay?" She asked when she was within hearing distance. Lia was still sitting on the bench with her swollen leg extended.

"I don't really know, I can't stand on it." She said, pointing at her leg.

Lena briefly looked at it, but she didn't need a lot of time to tell what happened. "It's broken." She said, and sat down beside the quarian. "Do you want me to call your parents?"

"No. I think they're working, they could not come here."

"Do you want us to take you in the hospital, and tell your parents where you are and what happened?" Lena suggested.

"That would be good." Lia answered. Lena turned on her omni-tool, and called her mother to come there with the skycar.

"Hey," she said.

"What happened?" Hannah asked through the line.

"Lia broke her leg. Can we take her into the hospital?"

"Of course. Send me the NavPoint; I'll be there in two minutes."

"Already sent. Thanks." Lena said, then broke the connection. She turned to her friend, and asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know. My leg got stuck inside something, and I just fell on it. I heard a crack, and then I couldn't step on it."

"Does it hurt when I do this?" She asked, and then tapped gently the swollen part of the leg. Looked like the ankle twisted and the quarian version of the shinbone broke.

"Yes, actually it does." Lia hissed.

"Okay, okay. Can I do anything to help you?" Lena asked. She wanted to help her with anything.

"No thanks. I'm a bit thirsty, so can we go home, to grab something?" She asked.

"Of course." Lena answered, and they saw a blue skycar approaching them. The doors opened and Hannah stepped out from the car. She approached the two girls.

"Oh my god, what happened?" She asked Lia.

"I think I broke my leg. It hurts." She said through the air filter.

"Okay. We carry you into the car, and take you to the hospital. Is that good?"

"Yes, but also, can we go home? I'm thirsty."

"Of course, Lia. Lena, could you help me?" Hannah asked. They helped Lia to stand, so she didn't have to put weight onto her bad legs. After they put her inside the car, Lena went back and grabbed her shoulder bag.

The car ride was silent, as neither Lena nor Lia could talk about anything. Lia's leg got worse as she tried to shift in the car seat. They arrived in the hospital half an hour after they started going. They helped her get out of the car, and carried her into the building.

Inside, they asked for a doctor, but nobody was available who could help a non-human. The head physician had a minute to look at the quarian, and said that she needs to go off world, because the hospital doesn't have clean rooms suitable for operation.

A Systems Alliance lieutenant overheard the talking, and approached the group.

"Hey, I heard what you were talking about. I'm Lieutenant Ernesto Zabaleta. I serve on the SSV Einstein. I think I can convince the captain to take you to the Citadel. We weekly do this route, and take you back when she's alright."

"Thank you. We have to speak with the girl's parents, but I think we accept it." Hannah answered.

"We're going to stay here for another day. What's your message address? I'm going to send you a message if the captain agreed to it."

Hannah told him her extranet address. The lieutenant left them, and they sat down. Hannah sent a message to the Vael family about what happened.

_From: Hannah Shepard  
To: Feda'Vael vas Ulnay_

_Subject: Lia_

_Dear Feda'Vael_

_Your daughter was hurt when she walked home. Lia and I brought her to the hospital, but they said that she needs to go off world to treat her. She probably needs surgery because she broke her leg._

_Lieutenant Zabaleta of the SSV Einstein suggested that he can convince the captain to take us to the Citadel. They take the route every week, so they could take us home for no additional cost._

_I think this is the best, but she's your daughter, so if you don't want it, then it's okay. They leave tomorrow._

_Hannah S._

"Okay, I sent the message" Hannah said. Lia wanted to go home, but Hannah insisted to take them to their place, until her parents go home. They slowly walked back to the skycar, and flied home.

. . .

"I'm eating an apple. Do you want anything?" Lena asked the young quarian. They were in the house's living room, with Lia lying on the couch.

"I could not eat anything, you know that." Lena certainly knew that, but she wanted to help Lia with anything she could. "But I have a nutrient paste here, somewhere," she said, and tried to touch her hip where the bottles were stored, "but I can't get a hold of it. Can you help me?"

Lena, feeling happy that she can help; walked to the quarian, crouched, and picked up the thin glass cylinder, "Here."

"Thank you." Lia said, and then grabbed the bottle. She opened her helmet's lower portion, which revealed Lia's lips and chin. Lena could just look at it for a second. The most important thing was nothing: it looked like any humans'.

"Wait. Aren't you going to get sick?"

After Lia finished, she closed the helmet, and put away the glass cylinder. "It was just a short connection with air."

Just as Lia said that sentence, Hannah's, Lia's and Lena's omni-tools blinked online with a message appearing.

_From: Feda'Vael vas Ulnay  
To: Hannah Shepard  
CC: Lena Shepard, Lia'Vael_

_Subject: RE: Lia_

_Dear Hannah'Shepard_

_Thank you for taking care of my daughter. We're going to discuss Lieutenant Ernesto'Zabaleta vas Einstein's offer later today. Unfortunately, we're going to go home at some times 9pm. Would it be a problem for you if Lia could stay there for dinner?_

_Thanks again. I think we'll accept the offer, but again, we need to discuss it._

_Feda'Vael_

"Your mother answered." Hannah said, and sat up.

"What did she said?" Lia asked her as she tried to sit up, but Lena gently pushed her back, reminding that it wouldn't be good for her leg.

"She sent you the very same message. You'll be staying here for dinner; they're going to arrive home by 9pm." Hannah informed the quarian.

"That's still 3 hours. Bosh'tet!" She cursed. This particular word was one of the first Lena learned, so she giggled upon she heard it.

. . .

_A/N: This story will be split up to chapters with 5 000 words, and to larger segments. (As I plan this story to easily be 50 or more chapters) So if you're planning on reading it, please favorite and follow it, as well as review if you have any opinion on the characters, and the whole story. Thanks for reading!_


	2. Episode 2: A New Life

**Episode Two: A New Life**

Feda'Vael, Lia's mother and Rak'Vael, Lia's father arrived just before 9pm. Hannah never met Feda and Rak in person, only messaged them. Feda's first thing to do was to check her daughter. After she was sure that the humans took good care of her, she joined Rak and Hannah talking about the journey.

"So you're saying that he didn't reply yet?"

"Yes. Zabaleta said that he would speak with his captain." Hannah said to Rak, as Feda walked into the room. Just as Feda sat down, Hannah noticed a message on her own omni-tool.

_From: Lieutenant Ernesto Zabaleta  
To: Hannah Shepard_

_Subject: Citadel_

_Dear Hannah Shepard_

_My captain allowed five people to come to the Citadel for the girl's surgery. A return is also granted, but only a week later, so an apartment is granted, too, not far from Huerta Memorial Hospital._

_Alliance Lieutenant Ernesto Zabaleta_

"Zabaleta just messaged me," Hannah said, as she read aloud the message. Feda and Rak listened to her.

"The Citadel? I've never been on the Citadel. Who is going to be the five people?" Feda asked.

"Us neither. I'm thinking about you three plus Lena and myself. We can help you with anything you want."

"Thank you, we appreciate it." Rak said. The two adult quarians stood up, quickly followed by Hannah.

"I think we should go home now, Lia needs to rest. If there's nothing more, then-"Feda said, but a loud sound interrupted her. They looked at the origination of the sound, which seemed to be Lena's room. Hannah rushed into the room, and what she saw froze her.

Lena was lying on the floor unconsciously, with little sparks surrounding her. Hannah quickly checked the girl's pulse and was relieved to find one. Lena could also breathe, but was unconscious. Feda ran in as well, to see what happened. She saw Hannah crouching by her daughter. "I'll call the ambulance," she said, and went back, but Hannah didn't notice her.

A small vein of blood started to flow out of her nose. Second later, sirens were heard. Feda and Rak helped the two human paramedics to Lena's room. They tried to ask questions, but Hannah was shocked.

"What happened, ma'am?" Hannah heard a paramedic saying this. He had to push away Hannah to get close to the girl. He checked Lena's arm, "Pulse is critical, we're taking her in." Hannah froze by the door. She just stood and saw how the paramedics take her only, now unconsciously lying child. Feda walked to Hannah while Rak remained with Lia, and put her hand on her shoulder.

The ambulance car left. Hannah and the Vael family were left in a silence.

"I'm going after her." She said seconds later. She wanted to be by her daughter.

"Why not take her to the Citadel with Lia?" Feda suggested. It was true that the Huerta Memorial Hospital was the best health care center on the Citadel.

"If she's transportable, then maybe, but I don't know. I'm sorry. You can stay for the night if that's good."

"It's okay. Keep us updated, Hannah. Keelah se'lai." Feda said, but Hannah already left to her skycar. The hospital was within five minutes driving.

While she was driving, only one thing was in her mind: seeing her daughter as soon as possible. She was probably driving too fast, but that didn't matter to her. When she arrived in the hospital's parking lot, she stopped the car, opened the door, and locked it while running toward the entrance. It was night already, and lights were already lit. She walked in the door, and headed towards the reception.

"Is here a young girl? Lena Shepard, with dark red hair?" Hannah asked. The human assistant quickly looked at the database and informed her about his findings.

"Yes, I assume you're her mother right?" Hannah nodded. "They've taken her for spinal surgery, because her element zero nodules malfunctioned. I'm not going to lie; this is a life-saving surgery. Without it, the electric currents could kill her."

"And what are they going to do with her?" Hannah nervously asked. She was sweating from the running, her black hair was messed.

"They're going to implant L5 implants to keep the biotic pulses in check. To the best of my knowledge, the implants later can also be used effectively against almost anything."

Hannah didn't want her daughter to become a soldier thanks to her biotic abilities, but this wasn't a choice she needed to choose. "When will the surgery end?"

"Looks like they started ten minutes ago, I'd if there are no complications, another ten minutes. But could also be an hour or two. You can wait here, if you want." The assistant suggested.

Hannah, not knowing any better solution, decided to stay, so she sat down, and sent a message to Feda and Rak.

_From: Hannah Shepard  
To: Feda'Vael  
CC: Rak'Vael_

_Subject: Lena_

_Dear Feda'Vael,_

_Lena is on surgery, she's getting biotic implants to stop these accidents. If her doctors agree, I'm going to take her to the Citadel with your daughter. Probably going to stay here for the night. Tomorrow, we're going to meet with Lieutenant Zabaleta at 8am in the docks. I'll be there._

_Thanks,  
Hannah S._

"This is going to be a long night…" She quietly said. She tried to read something on the extranet, but she was more concerned about her daughter.

. . .

"Hannah Shepard?" A doctor, in his 110s asked the crowd. His hair long lost its color. He was wearing clean rubber gloves, white coat and had a paper in his hand. Hannah was half asleep, but she instantly woke up when she heard her name.

"Yes?" She stood up, and approached the doctor.

"During the surgery, there were complications, but we successfully put in the implants. Unfortunately, an electric spark burned one of her eyebrows, which will be permanent, but it's more cosmetically a problem."

"Thank you. I have a question for you." Hannah started.

"About what?" The doctor asked back.

"We're going to the Citadel tomorrow, and I thought about transferring Lena to Huerta Memorial. Is she in a transporting condition?" Hannah carefully asked.

"I would not recommend it, but she is in transporting condition. You need to sign some papers, so we could release her tomorrow morning."

"Thank you. Can I see her?"

"Certainly, she's in room B273, but check in the nurse room for a clean garment."

"Of course. And again, thank you." Hannah said, and let the doctor go to his job. "Now I just need to find B273."

She walked around the hall until she found a corridor with a sign B2XX on it. She started walking there. After some short minutes, she arrived to two elevators, with one labeled as B27X, the other one as B28X. She took the first one and went onto the second floor. When the doors opened a nurse room was in front of her. "That was easy…"

"Umm, hello?" Hannah asked into the small room. A human woman came out.

"What can I help you with?" She asked the other, curious woman.

"I'm looking for room B273. A doctor told me I need clean garment to visit my daughter."

"Lena Shepard, right? This way, please." She said, and then directed Hannah into another corridor. A door was to their left, with B273 on it. Hannah could see her daughter through various glass walls. A plastic tube was connected into her mouth; she had bandages on her face, especially on her eyebrow. She didn't saw it, but she had another bandages on her back.

The nurse directed Hannah into a small decontamination chamber. The room hissed, and then white particles started coming out of air-filters. After the decontamination cycle, the nurse gave her a white coat and rubber gloves. Now she could be with her daughter.

The first thing what Hannah did was to stroke her cheek, and put a curl of hair out of her closed blue eyes. "Everything's going to be okay." Hannah whispered into Lena's ears. She held her daughter's hands for hours until she fell asleep on the shoulders of her daughter.

. . .

"What happened to Lena?" Lia asked her mother. Her leg was really hurting, but she could only think about her best friend.

"She received biotic implants. They think that the element zero nodules inside her spine caused this." Her mother explained, but changed the subject. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Actually, no. My leg hurts. Can we do something?"

"Well, actually, we can. If we set up their bathroom as a temporary clean room, I could take off your suit's leg parts, and put cold things onto it, to see of it takes down the infection."

"Okay…" Lia answered. Feda and Rak went inside the bathroom, and made sure that there were no holes in the wall. For their surprise, the Shepard house was really clean, so setting up a clean room was easier than they thought.

After a couple of minutes, Feda asked Rak to help Lia come into the bathroom. After they were in, Feda closed the door and began to take off Lia's suit's leg parts. After every segment, she put disinfectant on the skin. When she reached the swollen part, she worked very carefully, as every touch made Lia hiss up.

After the final part came down, Rak gently put a bag of ice near the swollen part, which was cold at first, but became more and more comfortable for Lia. "Can I take down my helmet?" She asked.

"You can." Feda answered. Lia started to unclasp the helmet, and with a hiss, caused by the air-filter, Lia smelled fresh air. Rak helped her take down the helmet as it got stuck in the suit's hoodie part. Lia's eyes were bright white, almost illuminated. Her hair was short dark brown, and messed, thanks to the helmet. She touched her face with her three fingered hand, and could feel her nose, lips and cheek, which was always new when she did it.

Time seemed to fly by. Rak picked up the now molten bag of ice, and Feda started to clean up Lia's leg. The young quarian girl was tired of that day's events, so she fell asleep while cooling her swollen and broken leg. Her mother awoke her by gently caressing her cheek and saying, "Wake up, my beauty. You need to go to bed." Which was an odd thing to say to a person already sleeping, but a young girl couldn't sleep in a bathroom.

Lia slowly looked around to see the world with her own eyes, toke a deep breath and put on her helmet once again. Rak helped again with the hoodie, and the helmet got locked with a hiss. Her parents carried Lia to the Shepard's guest bedroom, where there were four beds, so the quarian family could sleep there.

. . .

Fortunately Lena and Hannah could leave after 7am. The SSV Einstein would leave at 9am. Hannah had to take Lena home, get clothes and other important things, and get to the spaceport within 2 hours. The doctor released Lena after a quick scan; the results showed that the implants were working.

The driving from the hospital was more relaxed than the way to it. Hannah still had to hurry, but her daughter at least wasn't in danger. She looked over to the passenger seat. Lena was sleeping leaned towards the door with the land flying in the background. This restful moment reminded Hannah about her own childhood on Earth. She grew up in Vancouver, in the United North American States. The city was big at the time, and only got bigger and bigger as humanity found the Mars archives with the thousands of petabytes of data.

In 2148 she was only eighteen years old. She and her parents were one of the first to Mindoir, an extrasolar colony. Sadly, Hannah's parents died at 2152, two years before Lena was born. Hannah worked in a laboratory to study the effects of element zero on rats and local flora.

She used to go out to the hills in the outskirts of the colony. The hills were just enough high to see the entire city from the closest point to the farthest streets. The news of other intelligent life forms in 2157 frightened the colony. They heard of Shanxi and feared that the same would happen to them; that an alien force would invade the colony. Fortunately, nothing of that happened yet, and the initial fears have worn off.

Hannah parked the car on the street, and woke up her daughter. "Come on, it's a big day, isn't it?" Hannah said, and gently shook Lena.

The young girl stretched as she got out of the car. She still felt the place of the surgery on her back, but it didn't really hurt. "Can I eat something? The food was bad in the hospital." She asked her mother. Hannah opened the door and noticed that the quarian family was awake and was in their living room. Hearing the door open, Feda stood up.

"It's so great that you're okay." She said, and hugged the human girl, which made her giggle.

"Is Lia any better?" Hannah asked.

"We tried to apply ice on the swollen parts, but nothing changed. The sooner we depart the better."

"I agree. She's hurting and we almost ran out of antibiotics and painkillers. She may have an infection; she's running a fever." Rak arrived.

"Lena, why don't you go in to see if Lia's alright?" Hannah suggested. Lena nodded, grabbed an apple and walked into the living room where the green suited quarian laid. When she was out of hearing, the adults continued. "It's that bad?"

"If she doesn't receive proper medical attention, she could die due to infection." Feda answered. Her voice was tired, and stopped just before saying 'die'. "But thank you for everything you did to us."

Hannah looked at her omni-tool to check the time. It was 8.15am; they had forty-five minutes to reach the SSV Einstein. "I think we better get going. My car is enough for everyone. Have Lia in a transporting condition in five minutes, okay?"

"Okay." Feda and Rak answered simultaneously.

Hannah walked into Lena's room through the living room. She saw her daughter crouching by the couch where Lia laid. She looked like she's protecting her from anything. Lily, Lena's cat ran between Hannah's legs, which reminded her that she needs feeding occasionally. She opened her omni-tool, and sent a letter to their neighbor.

_From: Hannah Shepard  
To: Talitha Sharba_

_Subject: Help needed_

_Dear Talitha,_

_We're going off-world for a couple of weeks. Can you feed our cat, Lily, with your daughter in the meantime? We're leaving today. She needs dry food always and wet food two times a day, usually in the morning and in the afternoon._

_Thank you,  
Hannah S._

Hannah quickly packed some clothes in a bag, and headed back to the group. Lena was still with Lia, Feda and Rak were discussing something in Khelis. Hannah checked the time – it was 8.30am. "Alright, everyone. We need to go." She announced, and opened the front door. Lena insisted on helping Lia, so Feda helped to carry Lena's backpack.

"Thank you, Lena…" Was all Lia could say while Lena carried her.

They sit inside the car, with Hannah, who is driving, and Lena in the first row, Feda and Rak in the second, and Lia lying on the row. They now officially began their journey to the Citadel.

. . .

"It says that they are in dock D27." Feda said. They left Lena with Lia in the skycar until they found the SSV Einstein. The space port was big thanks to Mindoir being a colony in a trade route. They've been searching for fifteen seconds, with no luck whatsoever.

"Damn it, that was in the other direction." Hannah answered. While they were walking toward the center of the port, she received a message from Zabaleta.

_From: Lieutenant Zabaleta  
To: Hannah Shepard_

_Subject: Citadel_

_Dear Hannah,_

_I've managed to have antibiotics for the girl. We seemed to have a little problem with the propulsion systems. The take-off may be delayed._

_Thanks,  
Lieutenant Zabaleta_

"Zabaleta messaged me," Hannah started, as they successfully found the ship. Its exterior design was pretty much like all Alliance ships: blue and white, with the Alliance logo everywhere. "He said that they have antibiotics, but the take-off is delayed due to problems in the propulsion systems."

"I could help them." Rak suggested, as he was chief engineer on the Ulnay. After they moved to Mindoir, the captain said he didn't find a good engineer he was.

"That could work. I'll go back to the girls to get them here. Zabaleta knows about you, so if an Alliance lieutenant approaches you, it's him." Hannah said, and then left the quarian couple. The skycar was within a kilometer, as the spaceport was that huge. As it was still morning, lots of people were inside the terminal, waiting or leaving. Thanks to the crowd, it took her ten minutes to arrive to the girls, and it took her fifteen to help Lia get to the SSV Einstein.

When they sat down Lia onto a bench, Lena wanted to speak with her mother 'in private'.

"Lia told me something she shouldn't have." Lena started, but was really cautious. She didn't look into her mother's eyes.

"What, exactly?" Hannah asked. Lena looked at the bench Lia sat on, who was barely able to keep herself awake.

"She said that she's going to die, and she wanted to tell me something but I didn't understand it." She said, and her eyes started to water. She sobbed while her mother crouched down.

"We'll do everything to help Lia. She won't die, okay?" She asked, looking deep into her daughter's eyes. Lena was thinking about something, and then slightly nodded. "That's good. I think we're in time. Why don't we board this nice big ship?" Hannah suggested, and held Lena's hand. They walked towards the only quarian group in the colony. "I think we're ready to go." She said. Feda nodded, and helped Lia.

They walked on the ramp and into the airlock. They stepped in, and let the decontamination to happen. After it was finished, the captain of the SSV Einstein walked in front of them.

"You must be Shepard, right?" He asked in a deep voice. His face was buried in scars, and he had white hair. "Let me introduce myself. Captain Michael Hackett." He said, and shook hands with Hannah.

"I'm Hannah Shepard; this is my daughter, Lena."

The captain gently shook hands with Lena, and then turned towards the quarians. "I'm Feda'Vael, he is Rak'Vael, and she is our daughter, Lia'Vael."

"Pleasure to meet you, Feda'Vael." He said. "Well, I think you know it, but our engines are being repaired."

"I was the chief engineer on the Ulnay. I think I can help you." Rak suggested. He explained his work in the Migrant Fleet. After thinking for seconds, the captain allowed him to help. He gave the quarian the location inside the ship.

"But you don't have to wait outside. Our ship is large enough to hold 5 more visitors." He said, and guided the group into the ship.

For the first look Lena was fascinated about the ship. She was always quite fond of space. Sometimes in summer if the weather was good, she went out to the hills midnight, to see the stars. She closed her eyes, and dreamt about the places she would go; Earth, her species' homeworld and the Citadel, the heart of galactic society, which became a reality by then.

But when her thoughts drifted to the metal walls, ceilings and floors, a picture of her dreams blinked in front of her eyes. She felt many feeling; first she felt anger, because she thought she was trapped then she felt tranquility, because she remembered the mysterious female that looked so kind, and then she felt fear, because she didn't know where she was.

While experiencing fear, she felt headache, which was the side effect of the implants. Various thoughts triggered various symptoms, such as nausea and headache. Her headache was quickly followed by a blue biotic sphere, which made the ship's staff worried, as they didn't know whether she'll attack them, or what. Fortunately, the biotic sphere disappeared, but her headache remained.

"My head hurts." She said to her mother. Hannah was told about the side effects of the implants, and she was waiting when her daughter would show the symptoms. She was given the necessary drugs and pills to contain her biotic power and suppress the side effects. Hannah didn't want to intentionally drug her daughter, so she said to her daughter that she'll get one if her head still aches when they leave.

They arrived into the mess hall of the ship. There were metal tables everywhere. The captain reserved one for the group, and said, "You can wait here if you want. I'll ready your cabins once we get the chance to leave." Hackett said then left the group.

"This ought to be interesting…" Hannah said then helped the quarians sit down Lia. Lena now knowing what to do, sat down as well, and played with her omni-tool.

. . .

Several hours passed, and the ship was still within the docks. Rak helped repair the engines, but the docking authorities are keeping the ship from launching. Their official reason is that they can't take off, until someone didn't check the repairs, and they said that that could take up to 32 hours, which would be fatal to Lia.

Hannah tried to speak with Hackett, but he was too busy. She went back to the mess hall, and found Lena sitting just beside Lia, whose father was nowhere to be found. She stood by the door, and looked at them. This seemed another peaceful moment, looking at her daughter, caring about somebody.

A shouting caught her ears. She looked around to see where it came from. Hannah walked back to the bridge, and saw Hackett 'speaking' with another human and an asari, with armor on her, just standing there.

Hannah jumped, when Lena touched her. "What are they doing?" She asked her mother.

"I don't know." She answered. They were within hearing range.

"What do you mean that we can't take off?" Hackett asked. He wore his blue Alliance uniform.

"Just that! The ship isn't qualified for flying. Who knows, what the quarian did to it." The dock assistant countered.

"I'm standing right here!" Rak snapped at the human.

"Enough!" The asari finally said something. She raised her hand, as if trying to speak in front of a crowd. "Idiot aliens… You are arguing with a man, who only does his job." She said to the captain, without any feelings at all. "And you are arguing with a man, who has a dying person on his ship." She said to the assistant. "Anyway, you're both wasting each other's time. Let this go." She said to the assistant once again.

"But the engi-"

"Spectre authority." She added.

"Son of a…" The angry assistant left with a cursing.

"Wow, a real spectre!" Lena said. She was amused by the spectres. She liked them because they had unlimited power, and because the most were asari, who she also liked.

The asari spectre walked back from the bridge, right where the Shepards were. "Mommy, can I get an autograph from her?" She asked before Riva reached them.

"Okay, okay." Hannah said. Lena prepared her omni-tool to be used by Riva to take a picture and to sign an autograph. "Umm, hello?" She said when the asari were walking past them

"Can I help you?" She asked back. She had facial markings through her face, which reminded Lena of a bird; a purple bird on a blue sky to be exact.

"I'm Hannah Shepard; my daughter always liked the spectres, and she's finally meeting with someone. Please, can you give her an autograph?" She asked, while showing Lena.

The spectre turned to Lena. "I'm Riva Vasir. What's your name?" Riva asked kindly.

"L… Lena." She stutteringly answered.

"Okay, Lena." She said, and crouched down. She signed a holographic autograph and suggested to take a picture. Lena agreed, and was surprised, when Riva put her arm around her. Hannah crouched as well, and took a holo with her omni-tool. The camera blinked, and then they stood up.

"It is an honor, Ms. Vasir. If you don't mind, can I ask what does an asari spectre do on our little colony?" Hannah asked.

Riva tried to tell Hannah what was her job without getting into specifics. "Well, the Council sent me to investigate something. Nothing important, really; it's a boring thing. I'll be stationing here for two more months, now I just go back to the Citadel to report. I assume you're going to the Citadel as well?" She asked.

Hannah was surprised that how informal she was. "Lena just had biotic implant surgery; we're taking her to the Citadel. Also, we have a sick quarian girl, who needs surgery."

"That's sad to hear." She answered then turned towards Lena. "We'll be travelling for quite some time. If you're bored, and if you want, I can teach you some biotic tricks."

Hannah was concerned with a 'some' biotic tricks. "I've never tried." Lena answered.

"Well, then it's a good time to start. It'll only be harder to learn it later. Of course only, if your mother agrees to it, as well." She said, and turned towards the human woman.

"If she won't get hurt, then why not?" She said.

"Thank you!" Lena said, and hugged her mother.

"I'll give you my address. I'll be free the whole time, so If you want, we can learn then. But now I must leave. Have a good travel." She said then left. Lena was so excited about learning from a spectre, that she was literally jumping up and down.

Walking back to the mess hall, Hannah saw that the medical staff is taking Lia on a stretcher, with Feda walking beside her daughter. "Where are you waking her?" Hannah gently asked the quarian mother.

"To the med bay; we'll try to set up a clean room." Feda answered. Seconds later, she already got out of sight.

"To the crew and passengers of the SSV Einstein," Michael Hackett said into the intercom, "We now officially got clearance to take off. During the takeoff session, any fragile equipment is asked to be put away. When we escaped the planet's gravitational pull, we're going to turn on additional eezo field generators." The ship only had secondary eezo field generators, as power needed for thrusters. The secondary field generators generated artificial gravity, but didn't reduce shaking that much as the primary eezo field generators. "ETA to the mass relay is 3 hours; ETA to the Citadel is fifteen hours, Captain Michael Hackett out."

"This really going to be a long travel…" Hannah said. She never travelled on a starship before. The staff seemed peaceful, not like their ship is going to take off in a minute.

Hannah felt minor shaking as eezo thrusters started working. For a mere second, she thought of what would happen, if the engine would blow up. Every one of the ship would die, and maybe everyone in the docks. Half of the colony would be covered in an eezo dust, half of that would be destroyed. She looked outside the window, and she saw the docks slowly moving away from them. Seconds later, the shaking stopped as the ship was now in orbit around Mindoir.

"Are you excited?" Hannah asked Lena.

"Yes. I've more interested in the mass relay jump, though."

. . .

The two hours flown by, and Lena could see the mass relay getting bigger and bigger. The relay was so big, that the window's entire vision was blocked by it. The helmsman's voice came over the intercom.

"All boards are green, everything looks good. Calculating transit mass and destination… sending it to the relay. Everyone, be ready, approach run has begun." He said. The ship started to move faster and faster. Lena looked out on the window, and saw that the stars now formed lines, not dots on the sky. When they were just enough close to the relay, the ship got covered in blue plasma, which, just for a millisecond, stopped the ship, only to propel it with infinite momentum to its destination.

Mass relays work like wormholes, but not exactly. They create a mass free channel between itself and the end point, as no object with mass can go faster than the speed of light. Of course, no massless field can be made conventionally, that's why the helmsman needs to send the transit mass of the ship. Also, the amount of time this 'corridor' is active is really short, just enough to make the jump. After using the mass relay, it needs to recharge its eezo core.

Flying with infinite momentum has its side effects. Without mass, and going with infinite momentum produces infinite energy, therefore, the energy needs discharging. If the ship's energy isn't discharged, the energy stored within the ship, the engines, and literally everything will explode, and exploding within the Citadel is fatal, as it would be equal to a star going supernova.

"Prepare for deceleration." The helmsman announced. The ship arrived on the other end of the corridor; the mass relay for the Citadel. They still needed thirteen hours to get to the Citadel, but that is nothing compared to what distance they travelled through; the half of the galaxy.

. . .

_A/N: Thanks for reading! As always, if you have any thoughts about the story, please write a review, and if you want, please follow and favorite! __In the next chapter, Riva will tell Lena stories about being a spectre, and about the asari themselves. (And yes, Riva is Tela's sister.)_


	3. Episode 3: A New Friend

**Episode Three: A New Friend**

Lena woke up to her mother arriving into the room. They were in the crew quarters of the SSV Einstein where they had their own room. "You up so soon?" Hannah asked her daughter. "I had to carry you here; I thought you would sleep through the flight, you were sleeping so deeply." Hannah stated.

"The hum of the ship prevents me from sleeping…" She said, while exhaling a yawn. The ship's crew quarters were set up like apartments; in a row. Next to them was the Vaels' room then came some crewmembers'. "I'm thinking of training with Riva." She said. She knew too, under training, they really mean talking about biotics.

"And?" Hannah asked, realizing that she didn't finish her sentence.

"And I'm kind of nervous about it… You know, being alone with a spectre… asari?" Lena explained. She knew about the spectre's position above the law and their authority. And she was afraid of them as much as curious. "Would you accompany me?"

Hannah wanted to teach independence to her daughter, but she always found just one excuse not to actually do it. "Okay, okay. Now?" She asked and stood up, Lena quickly followed her. Walking to Riva's room, Lena looked around the mess hall they went through, while Hannah observed her. _She's so cute when she's interested in something… _She thought. _I hope she won't get hurt. She's my everything._

Lena looked around. She was again, fascinated by the complexity of the ship. Every screen, every holo showed something, or calculated something. In the mess hall, some of the crew was working on something; some of them just had a friendly chat. Every minute she was on the ship made more and more to have a ship.

Looking to the right she saw "Room 314". They stopped then knocked on the door. "I'm coming!" Riva said. Seconds later, the panel on the door turned green, which then opened, and Riva stepped out. She wore a typical asari long dress, and had a datapad in her hand. "Oh, Lena, hi!" She said the turned to Hannah, "Ms. Shepard."

"Lena said she would like to train with you; of course if you're not busy." Hannah explained.

"I'm free now. Would you like to come in?" She said, pointing into the room. Hers was larger, than Shepard's. She took a moment to look around the room. Her eyes instantly locked on the armor set the asari wore when they met while docked into Mindoir.

_So she probably just wanted to change into something more… convenient. I guess._

"That's my favorite armor set." Riva said.

"Do you have more than one?" Lena asked.

"Oh, yes. I was given a black one, which wasn't the best. After enough missions with that I could my own. And this is it." Riva explained. Changing the subject, she asked, "I have some asari honey mead I picked up the last time I was on Ilium. You want some?"

"I'd thank that. But Lena can't drink alcohols." Hannah said.

"Not a problem; although it doesn't have that much alcohol than yours… Maybe fourth." Riva said, and pulled out a bottle of something. "This is the best fruit juice from Thessia. I've met humans that said it tastes better than a… what do you call it? Beer? I've been keeping this to open with someone." Riva said, and picked up three glasses. She poured the wine to two glasses, and a glass of fruit juice to Lena. She handed over the glasses.

Lena slowly sipped a little of the juice. At the moment it stimulated her tongue in a way she never imagined. It was sweet, but not that much. The taste was nothing she ever tasted in her life. "Hm, do you like it?" Riva asked when she and Hannah both took a sip from their wine.

"Yes, it's good! Like… like… What fruit did they make it from?"

"I don't really know the details, but it's a mixture of jenilis and reila. They both are common on Thessia." Riva tried to explain.

After they finished their glasses, Riva turned to Lena again. "So what do you know about biotics?" She asked.

Lena thought about it for a moment. She did research something before her surgery, but a lot of things happened after it. "Well… I do know that it's exhausting. Do all asari have biotic abilities?"

"Indeed it is. Even after years, after two or three uses, the person can get very tired." Riva answered. "And yes, we have."

Not all races can use biotics, and even if they can, the abilities are different. The asari, for example are natural biotic, opposed to the salarians or the quarians, the latter because of their exile from Rannoch as they population is limited, and they need eezo to fuel the Migrant Fleet.

The asari doesn't need training to have conscious neural control, thus they don't need implants. Biotics among the turians and salarians are a rarity, as the former's military views them as suspicion, and the latter's military don't want to risk them on the front life due to their short lifespan of forty years. Batarians and krogans can also develop eezo nodules, but, opposed to the humans, does not need implants to use them. They can be trained as shock troopers, sentinels or vanguards.

Humans need a special implant to harness their biotic abilities. The most common implant is the L5x for the adept-specialized, and the L5n for the vanguard-specialized. During the surgery, the doctors wanted to implant L5xs, but there were complications, which only allowed L5ns, so Lena's specialization will be a vanguard when she trains her abilities.

"What can you do?" Lena asked Riva. She saw the asari stand up, and a blue orb appeared in her hand.

"Altering the mass of object, as well as damaging them, like this." She said. She pointed her arm toward a pen on the table, which ascended into the air, then got crushed by a warp attack."

"Oh my…" Lena said, as herself and her mother looked at the action. The blue glowing around Riva disappeared.

"I don't expect you doing the same. But can you project energy to an object?" Riva asked.

"I haven't tried." Lena answered. Telling the truth, she did tried it once, but that was way before her surgery, and just only acted if she would have power.

"If you stand up, I could show you." Riva said. Lena stood up, and stood beside the asari spectre.

She guided Lena to a standing position. She had her legs slightly bent, and her feet were somewhat apart. "The most important thing is to keep her balance, which might not sound much, but you'll get exhausted at first." She explained. "You need to get your body to send an electric charge through your nodules, thus channeling your abilities."

"How can I do that?" Lena asked.

"I'll teach you the most basic one. Not guaranteed, that it will work for the first time." She answered then explained how to use one of the most basic ability. "Warp is fairly easy. It changes the mass of an object, damaging it; what you saw white the pen. It's basically the following. Think about warping that empty bottle there, and then swing your hand in that direction."

Lena did so, thought about that bottle, and swung her arm in a rather cute way; she almost fell to the ground, but Riva caught her. "It's okay if you don't want to press it." Riva suggested.

"No, no, I want it." Lena answered.

"You know it…" Lena regained her balance and stood back into the position. She thought about the empty glass bottle, and swung her arm. This time, a really small blue energy ball glided through the room, hitting the wall behind the wall.

Lena fell to her knee, she was extremely exhausted. Hannah jumped up, and knelt down as fell. "What happened to her?" She asked Riva.

The asari spectre got more of the Thessian fruit juice, poured some to a glass, and gave it to Lena. "Her blood sugar level probably dropped down. It's not uncommon, as well as dehydration." Riva explained. "I think we won't do any more training. She just needs rest. I'm sure you have more things to do, Ms. Shepard, Lea can stay here; we could talk."

"What do you want, Lena?" Hannah asked her daughter, now lying on the bed.

"I'd… like to stay." She managed to answer. Hannah kissed her cheek then left the room. Riva closed the door, and locked it, Lena saw the green panel turn to red.

"While asari don't really get that much exhausted than other species, I feel your pain." Riva showed sympathy.

"It's actually getting better, thanks. I was always fascinated by the asari and their biotic abilities." Lena started, and sat up on the bed.

"Well, not all asari wants to develop their abilities, but the standard education includes biotic training from the asari version of… kindergarten."

"What's up with the haste? I think I read something about the asari living for a thousand years."

"That's true. But our youth is only stretched twice than yours. So what, you're twelve? Then an asari would be twelve by the age of twenty-four."

"How old are you?" Len asked.

Riva laughed, "By asari or human standards?" She asked back.

"Asari."

"I'm well over four hundred." Riva said.

"So you're a spectre. What was your ceremony like?" Lena asked the asari. She had a vid about it on her omni-tool.

_"Riva Vasir, step forward." The asari councilor said, and she did so. Behind her there were Tela, her friends and family. The vid showed other people on the Citadel, turians, other asari and salarians watching the ceremony. "It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel." She said._

_"I'm honored, Councilor." Riva was heard saying. The councilor repeated her speech for every spectre candidate._

_After everyone, the three councilors made their final speech. "Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle, those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file." The salarian councilor said._

_"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol; the embodiment of courage, determination and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the council, instruments of our will." The asari councilor said._

_"Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold." The turian councilor said._

_The asari spectres bowed, as the asari councilor said the last sentence, "You now represent the asari as great warriors wherever you go. Any necessary mission briefing will be relayed to you. May the goddess be with you." She finished, and the vid stopped._

"That's so cool!" Lena exclaimed.

"Oh, and I have something for you." Riva said, put down the datapad, and opened her own omni-tool, and projected a holo to a nearby wall. The picture showed an outline of a heavy pistol. "I got this way back when I was only a hundred or so. Didn't work even back then. I held this as my talisman, and it was with me when I got promoted as a spectre. I… wanted to give it to my daughter, but I guess that'll have to wait for a couple of hundreds of years more." She said then turned off the projection. She opened her backpack, and pulled out a clean, but non-functional heavy pistol. "I'd like to give it to you to keep the tradition."

"I… don't know… what to say. Thank you." Lena answered, taking the gun.

"One day, you might give it to your child." Riva said.

"Is this completely safe?" Lena wanted to be sure.

"Of course…" Riva answered, wiping away some tears that were falling on her blue skinned cheek. "The firing mechanisms were cut-out. You can't put in a thermal clip, and if you pull the trigger, it won't do anything." Riva said.

"Why are you sad?" Lena asked.

"Oh, I'm not sad. It just means so much to me…" Riva stopped for a second then continued, "When my sister, Tela joined the spectres, when I was a child, she gave it to me and said, 'If we don't see each other again, promise me that you'll keep this, and remember me.' I kept that promise. Maybe I'm just seeing my future daughter in you, but I think time has come to give away this gun." Riva said.

Lena was overwhelmed by the kindness of Riva. She stood up, and hugged the weeping asari. "I like you." Lena said to her.

"I like you, too." The asari answered.

. . .

Lena stepped into their room. She looked around, and saw her mother looking out on the window. "Hi, mom." Lena greeted her.

"Oh, hey." Hannah answered, turning to her.

"I got this from Riva." Lena said, showing the nonfunctional weapon to her mother.

"Isn't this dangerous, Lena?" She asked.

"She explained it why it isn't. And it's a relic for her, as she got is from her sister." Lena explained. She showed the barrel of the gun, which was solid, and there was no place to put thermal clips. "Can I keep it?" She asked.

Hannah thought about it for a short period of time, and she came to the conclusion that it's not a good idea to swing a real-looking weapon on the main street on Mindoir. "Yes, but you should keep it at home, and please don't talk about it in school. Or even here on the ship, they might think you're dangerous."

"Okay." Lena said, looking at the ground.

"Hey, it's for your safety. And if it matters, then I won't even touch it, if you don't allow it to me." Hannah explained that these precautions were for her safety. Mindoir's police department wasn't used to little girls running with guns.

"You can touch it." Lena said with a smile.

"Aren't you hungry? I brought some sandwiches." Hannah said, and opened a boy with several sandwiches stacked. "You're a biotic now; you should have energy."

Lena pulled out one, and bit it. Many Earth animals could live on Mindoir, including pigs and cows, but there were native species, like the so-called space cow, which resembled kangaroos, but were much larger in build. Food could be made out of them and they were bred.

"Do you know anything about Lia? How is she?" Lena asked her mother.

"While you were away, I asked Feda. She said that Lia got antibiotics but she's in and out of consciousness." Hannah tried to answer. She worried about Lia as well, as she was fully aware that she could die in any minute, but she hid that from her daughter.

"Can I meet with her?" Lena asked. There were still ten hours 'till they got to the Citadel.

"You know, she's in a clean room in the ship's med bay. She needs that so she can be out of her suit." Hannah explained.

"_Hri'va._" Lena said quietly, but loud enough for her mother to hear.

"What did you just say?" Hannah asked curiously, as she didn't understand her daughter.

"A clean room. I asked Lia to teach me some words in her language." Lena said. Lia has been teaching her for almost some months now.

"Can you say something more? I'm interested in hearing that."

"Well, I only know some words. Oh, and a sentence: _Lena ghik ai se'neae._"

"And that means?"

"'My name is Lena' in Khelis." She explained.

"What do the words mean?"

"'_Ghik'_ and '_ai'_ are difficult to explain. They are… how it's called… helping words, maybe. '_Se_' means 'I' or 'my', and '_neae' _means name, birthplace or the ship one's crew of."

Hannah's jaw dropped at how much her daughter knew. "I'm… amazed" was all she could speak in surprise.

. . .

_A/N: Super-extra special ~2,600 words. Mostly due to school and life being life. Next one will be 5,000, as the first two._

_The "Thessian fruit juice" is from Tayg's Uncommon Bonds._

_Thanks for reading, and if you can, please favorite, follow and write a review! In the next chapter, the group arrives to the Citadel. The two girls gets their surgery, but as always, there are complications._


	4. Episode 4: A New Place

**Episode Four: A New Place**

"Is that the Citadel?" Lena asked her mother as they were looking out on a large window while approaching the space station.

"I… guess…" Hannah answered. The Citadel was within visual protection of gases from the Serpent Nebula cluster. In between purple and blue colors, an enormous ship emerged from the gas. It was the Destiny Ascension, an asari dreadnought and the flagship of the Citadel fleet.

"Look at that ship!" It had four arms, with one of them being a giant gun.

Seconds later, the Citadel itself became visible, with the nearby star, Widow shining through.

_From: Lieutenant Zabaleta  
To: Hannah Shepard, Feda'Vael_

_Subject: Hospital_

_The hospital has been notified about your arrival, they'll be waiting for the quarian girl by the cargo bay._

More and more ships flown by as they arrived into the presidium docks. Meanwhile in the med bay, the ship's doctors prepared Lia for transportation.

. . .

Lena and Hannah walked through the Combat Information Center, and arrived to the bridge. They were they first to exit the ship, with Hackett right behind them.

The beauty of the Citadel made Lena a little intimidated. Everything was made out of metal, or the alien equivalent. Humans, turians, salarians, asari and giant bugs walked in the lower sections, looking at shops, talking, or in case of the giant bugs known as the keepers, working by an orange console.

"Is there any hotels we can stay at?" Hannah asked Hackett, as they walked past the first security check. The turian C-Sec officer checked Hannah and Lena, as well as Hackett. Riva, the asari spectre however didn't have to be checked.

"I don't really know of anything. But check in the embassies, they might be able to help you." He said, but the asari interrupted him.

"I have an apartment, which I only use to sleep. It's in Shalta Ward." She said. When she saw that neither Lena nor Hannah understood what she said, she clarified, "It's only five minutes, driving."

Lena was excited as ever. "I don't know if that's appropriate." Hannah said.

"Why would it be inappropriate?" Riva asked, as they walked past the second security check. Hackett already left the group.

"I heard about the hate toward humans." Hannah answered her. "I though we'll have to fight to survive here."

"Not the Citadel I know of." She said, "That's more like Omega. Until you're in the presidium, or in either Shalta or Zakera Ward, you'll be safe."

"Why, what's up with the other three wards?" Lena asked.

"They're regulated by salarians or turians. Shalta is mostly inhabited by asari, and the presidium is multiracial." She said, as they walked into the elevator. Riva pressed a button that said 'Parking', and the elevator slowly, but steadily started moving in a downward direction. Calming music was playing in the background, which was interrupted by local news.

"_A forty-nine-hundred-year-old, unidentified asari went berserk last night, opening fire with a twelve-gauge shotgun in the crowded presidium commons. Authorities say that they're still searching for the middle-aged asari, with purple facial markings. They say that if anybody notices him, call the nearest C-Sec outpost, and don't try to capture him alone_."

"Does that happen a lot?" Hannah asked Riva.

"Sorry, what?" She answered. The question caught her off-guard, as she knew who the asari in the newsfeed was.

"Does this kind of shooting happen a lot?"

"No, not really. I think the asari might have post-traumatic stress disorder." She answered. It was true, that her sister, Tela was on a mission which terribly went wrong. She was seen by a psychiatrist, but the events suggest it didn't help.

. . .

"Gotta tell ya, I hate them." Illio, a turian nurse said while leaning toward a metal wall on the Citadel.

"You hate quarians?" Sergine, another turian nurse asked him. She looked shocked.

"Why? They created the geth! An idiotic race, all is homeless." Illio expressed himself.

"You're an idiot. Sometimes I wonder why do you work in a hospital if you are so racist." Sergine once saw Illio doing something with a salarian patient, who died the next day. Sergine was sure Illio made it, but kept it to herself.

"What, I like the asari."

"Ugh." Sergine was offended. She turned from the other three turian males, and leant to the railing. The nearest star, Widow was shining, interrupted only for fractions of a second by many ships, shuttles and sky cars.

Sergine was born and raised on the Citadel. When she was fifteen, she met with Illio, and instantly fell in love with him. She found him very annoying when in public, but when she spoke with him in private, he was really charming.

"Here they are!" The salarian doctor said. The ship opened its cargo bay door, and the four nurses rushed into the ship, and directly toward the med bay. There, they put Lia on a stretcher, and carefully, but quickly ran back. There, they went into the elevator.

"Pulse?" The salarian doctor asked.

"Slow but steady." Sergine answered. The elevator quickly ascended to the level of Huerta Memorial. The door opened, and the nurses took Lia to surgery.

Feda and Rak couldn't keep up with the nurses. They walked out the cargo bay, and arrived to D25 docks. "What should we do?" Feda asked. She felt many eyes looking at them, being the only one quarians there.

"Contact Shepard." Rak suggested.

Feda dialed Hannah. "Hello Shepard."

_"I just wanted to call you. How's Lia?"_

"She's okay… I think." She said, and stopped.

_"Are you okay, Feda?"_

"Yes. They took her to Huerta Memorial. Where are you?"

_"The asari spectre from the ship invited us to her apartment. You can come, too."_

"Really? That's great. What's the address?"

_"Wait a minute, I'll sent it to you. Done. I hope to see you here."_

"Me too. Goodbye, Shepard."

_"Goodbye" _And she disconnected the call.

. . .

The apartment Riva lived in was huge. Although it had one floor, there were two hallways, connecting a total of four rooms, with the living room's size being the half of the whole apartments. Hannah was quickly followed by Lena as they walked with Riva in the front. Soothing asari music was playing in the background coming from speakers from all over the apartment. "Of course, there is a switch to turn it off." Riva said.

They turned left to the second hallway. To the left, there was a large kitchen, connected to a dining room. Decorations showed asari roots; paintings showed the asari homeworld Thessia, tables and chairs were curved.

"Where is our room?" Hannah asked.

"Right here." Riva said, and opened a door to her right. It had a large window in the back wall of the room, and two beds "I'll give you the password for the front door's lock. But for now, I have work to do. I'll be back tonight." She said, and left the room. Lena took a moment to look around, and went straight to the window. What she saw amazed her.

The window looked at the Presidium Commons. People from various races walked around, were looking at shops, talking or sitting on a bench. "Can I go down there?" She asked her mother.

"Where?" She asked back, and walked to the window as well. She looked around as well.

"Oh, I forgot…" Riva said, but the Shepards didn't hear her, as they were amazed by the beauty of the Citadel. She smiled, and decided to leave a note in the living room's terminal.

"Do you have your omni-tool?" Hannah asked.

"Yes… Why?" Lena answered, and asked back.

"Take some holos for the people back home. They'll want to see it." Hannah explained. Lena pictures of their room, and the beautiful vista.

"Let's pack out." Hannah said, and turned to their bags. They only brought the essentials, as they didn't know when they would leave. "We'll have to go shopping some clothes if we stay for weeks. We have thirty thousand credits. That should be enough for clothes, food, and anything."

When they finished, they decided to look around that level of the Presidium Commons. They walked out of their room straight to the front door through the living room. There, Hannah found a note on the terminal addressed to her.

_Hannah, a friend of me in Armali Council's shop has a gift for you. She owed me something, and I told her to give you the best omni-tool they sell. You'll need it on the Citadel._

"Let's go!" Hannah said, and they walked out through the door. Just as stepping out, they bumped into Feda and Rak.

"Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" Feda said, while hugged the human woman.

"Me too…"

"This is the apartment?" Rak asked as Feda released Hannah.

"Yes. I quickly show you the room." She said, and walked back with the quarians. She showed their room then left them to finally leave the apartment.

. . .

"How is she?" Sergine asked the salarian doctor.

"Stable… for now." He answered.

"That's great news." The turian lady said. She was concerned about the quarian girl. "What'll happen to her?"

"We still need to repair the bone fraction, but we can't do that until her infection is gone. That could be weeks."

"I see. Should we tell that to the parents?"

"No, not yet; the girl needs rest. Tomorrow." He said and left. Sergine decided that there was enough excitement for that day, and she went home.

. . .

"I love this place." Lena said, as they sat down to a bench. They were in the Armali Council omni-tool shop and in a market where they bought new clothes. But as happy as Lena looked, her facial expression turned into sadness.

"What's the problem?" Hannah asked, noticing the girl's change of feelings.

"Nothing, nothing." She said.

Hannah closed her eyes, not really believing her daughter. She felt a light wind blowing, and the scent it carried, it reminded her about Earth, Mindoir, and the days she spent by lying on the grass, and looking at the sky.

She opened her eyes. The sky she saw in her head was pushed away by a giant statue of a mass relay, probably made by the protheans. Not far away, there was a statue of the krogans, for their participation in the rachni wars. Sadly, the following krogans rebellions pictured the krogans instead of galactic heroes, but ruthless warriors.

"Wanna eat something?" Hannah asked her daughter, who instantly nodded. "I saw this place, Apollo's Café, why don't we go and see what they have?" She suggested. They stood up, and walked back.

The main street was crowded with members of different species, such as the asari, who wore tight clothes, which followed the curve of their body. The turians, however, wore distinctive clothes. It was made only for turians, opposed to asari, human and even quarian interchangeable clothes. The salarians wore similar clothes to the turians', but somebody wore hoodies with it, maybe to cover their pair of horns.

Exotic species, like the hanar didn't wear any clothes at all, as they were sentient jellyfishes, thus, not needing anything to hide.

Batarians and drell were a rarity, as well as volus and elcor, but out of different reasons. Batarians locked themselves out of the galactic community after the humans' expansion in the Attican Traverse. The drell race only consisted of some hundred thousands, because the hanar saved only a few from their homeworld.

The volus is a member species of the turian hierarchy, and usually seen in banks and as government officials. Elcor is easy to notice, but considering their limited numbers in the galaxy excluding their home system makes them a rarity too.

Hannah and Lena arrived to Apollo's Café. Behind the counter there was a salarian bartender. "Hello, and welcome to Apollo's Café. How can I help you?" He asked politely.

"Hello, we'd like to eat something." Hannah said.

"This is the best place!" He said with enthusiasm. "I can show you the café's levo-amino-acid menu, if you want."

"Thank you." Hannah said. The salarian showed it to them by projecting it from his omni-tool. A standard meal was fifty credits, with drinks ranging from five to two hundred credits. "I think I'll have something non-human… is the idoa have fish in it?" She asked.

"Idoa is made from various meat folded into bread. No fish." The bartender said, explaining the salarian dish.

"Then I'll have one, and you?" She asked her daughter.

"I want a regular sandwich, please." Lena said, and pointed to a human sandwich with cheese and mustard.

"Alright, please sit down, I'll take it in five minutes." He said. Hannah and Lena found an empty table, and sit onto the chairs.

. . .

Feda and Rak went back to the hospital as soon as they could. As they have never been on the Citadel, they got lost, but found their way to the hospital. They navigated through the hallway, turned to the right, and into the decontamination chamber. The door slid open.

The room Lia lay in had a large window, which looked at the presidium ring's lake. Several machines were beeping and connected to her, either to her mouth, or through a needle. One chair was beside the bed, and another was beside some machines to the wall on the right hand side.

Illio, the turian nurse was inside the room. He was crouching by the bed, fumbling with something.

"Umm… Hello?" Feda asked the turian in the environment suit.

He stood up, and looked around. "Hello." He was thinking about who they are, but quickly realized their race, "Your daughter is okay. I'll send the doctor in." He said, and rushed out.

Feda and Rak exchanged glances. "That… was strange." Rak said.

They sat down to the chairs. As they were in a decontaminated area, everybody except Lia needed to wear an environment suit. Wearing themselves, Feda and Rak didn't need on, but the now arriving doctor did.

"Mr. and Mrs. Vael." He greeted them as they stood up.

"How's Lia?" Feda asked.

"We couldn't do a lot with the bone fraction, but we started curing the infection. She can only have the surgery when the infection is gone."

"And when is that?"

"Can't say for sure. Probably several weeks." He said, and stepped to the lying quarian. Although she was dressed in everyday clothes until she is in the clean room, her broken leg was seen by the unnatural bend of her leg. The doctor then started to walk to the door, but stopped. "Oh, and before I forget. I believe Hannah Shepard and her daughter came with you on the SSV Einstein?"

"Y… Yes." Feda answered.

"Tell them that find Dr. Ravin if they'll get here." He said and left the room.

_From: Feda'Vael  
To: Hannah Shepard_

_Subject: Huerta_

_Hello Hannah,_

_We're in the hospital right now. The salarian doctor treating Lia says that you'll need to find Dr. Ravin when you get here._

_Thanks,  
Feda_

. . .

The next day, Lena and Hannah walked into the reception of the hospital. An asari receptionist was greeting them

"Good morning, and welcome to Huerta Memorial. How can I help you?" She asked.

"Good morning. We have an appointment to Dr. Ravin."

"Certainly… Go through the corridor and first door to the left. The doctor is waiting for you." She said.

Hannah and Lena are walking up to the door, and pushes the green holo screen to open it. Dr. Ravin is sitting on a chair, looking out on the window. "Good morning, Ms. Shepard."

"Good morning, Dr. Ravin."

Dr. Ravin looks twenty-five years old. She has mid length dark brown hair, reaching her shoulders. "So you're here for the biotic implants?" She asked.

"Yes." Hannah answered.

"Well… I've already put together a plan. As this was an emergency case, all fees are paid by the hospital. Let's see…" She says, turning the windows that are looking to the corridor opaque. "There would be three surgeries altogether. The first two needs to be performed here, the last one can be in your colony's hospital.

The first one would be performed within a week to avoid any more conflicts with the girl's eezo nodules. The second one would be after a month or so, for a second round of implanting. The third one is needed when she can resume her daily routine again."

"But why wait for when she can do everything again?"

"Because that is just a calibration. To see if the implants work as they should." She explained.

"I guess we don't have an option…" Hannah said, referring to the series of surgeries.

"That's true, but it's for the girl. But you don't need to say yes now, think it all through, and come back the day after tomorrow."

"Okay, we'll do that." She said, and stood up. The windows turned transparent again. "And there is a quarian girl with a broken leg. Do you know where to find her?" Hannah asked.

"The girl with the infection? I heard about her. She's in D wing, but I give you a NavPoint of a nurse, who knows more." She said, and send it to Hannah's omni-tool.

"Thank you. Goodbye." Hannah said, and left.

. . .

"Where are they?" The krogan asked.

"With the girl." Illio answered.

"Good. Make them stay as long as you can. We'll do the rest."

. . .

"Feda, are you alright?" Hannah asked, as they approached the sitting quarians.

Feda looked up and said, "Yes, Hannah, I'm fine, just tired."

"Why don't you go home, and sleep?" She suggested.

"I… can't."

"Can we… go in to her?" Lena asked her mother.

"Is she awake?" Hannah asked Feda.

"Yes. You can go in, if you want."

Hannah nods then steps into the decontamination chamber where she puts on an environmental suit on her and her daughter. Three short click sounds are heard, and the door opens into the clean room.

Lena is shocked again at the body of the young quarian. Even under the sheets, and her head, she looked pretty much like herself, only with three fingers.

Lia heard the guests come in, and turned in their direction. "Hello." She said very quietly.

"Hello, Lia." Hannah said.

"Are you okay?" Lena asked.

"Yes, I think. I feel safe." She answered. At least she didn't have to worry about dying.

"Does your leg hurt?"

"I don't feel it. They said that's good; how about you?"

"I'll have my surgery in a couple of days."

"Are you afraid?"

Lena looked at her mother, "Yes."

. . .

That night Lena couldn't sleep. She was worried about next day, as they accepted the surgery. She didn't know what'll happen exactly or if she will feel anything. She stood up from her bed, and walked out to the kitchen in quiet, not to disturb the quarians, or Riva in their sleep. When she arrived into the kitchen, she was surprised that she found the asari spectre by the counter, not hearing her, and listening to music.

The orange light coming from her omni-tool lightened the kitchen. She was humming with music, or Lena thought as she never ever heard anything like that before. Slowly approaching the asari, Lena greeted her, "Hello…"

Riva turned around, pulled out the earplugs, and looked at the human girl. "Hello. Shouldn't you suppose to sleep?" She asked.

"I can't." She answered.

"Why?"

"I'm afraid."

"Of what?" Riva asked. Lena looked away, and didn't answer. "Come on, you can tell me, I'm not going to speak about it to anyone."

"Well…" She started, "it's kind of hot in here. In my homeplanet, the air is much colder at nights…"

Riva didn't believe her. "That's it?"

"Umm…" She said, "And because of my surgery."

"Oh." Lena walked closer to the asari spectre.

"Will it hurt?" She asked a question that caused Riva a problem. She didn't know how to properly answer it. If she tells the truth then Lena will run away from the hospital, but if she lies then Lena may not trust her anymore.

"I… don't really know. But what I do know is that you won't feel it."

"Really?" Lena asked, now sobbing.

"Yes. You will fall asleep before it happens, and you'll wake up long after it finished."

"But what if I wake up in the middle of it?" She asked; her eyes are close to tears.

"That won't happen." Riva said with faked smile, trying to comfort the girl.

"What were you humming?"

Riva looked down. "Nothing… nothing…" After minutes of thoughtful silence, she said, "Go back to your room. You need to rest."

Lena yawned and while exhaling, she said, "Maybe…"

"Come on…" Riva said, while standing up. "I'll take you back." They walked back to their room. Lena walked in, leaving Riva in the dark.

The blue asari walked back to the living room, and sat down onto the couch. She put her head in her hands, and started crying.

. . .

The krogan walked down from the bridge, with two vorchas standing by him. "Status report." He said in a deep voice.

Illio's face appeared on the screen, "Minor tweaks may be necessary to successfully incorporate it with quarian physiology… but he is out of reach."

"Is he? What are you suggesting?" The krogan asked.

"The microchip needs direct contact with the user's nervous system. A week more testing is needed on our test subject."

"Alright. But after that I'm gonna' put it into you if you're not ready." The krogan said, and turned off the feed. "Stupid turians."

. . .

The next day, Lena woke up first because she couldn't sleep. She walked out to the living room, and found Riva sleeping on the couch with a thin cover on her. She didn't want to disturb her, so she walked back to her room. The simulated sun was shining into the room, and eventually waking Riva. She looked around.

She turned on the screen in her living room, and Citadel Newsnet came in. "_This galactic taxes have risen three point five percent over the past year. The council says that Batarian attacks on human and other colonies in the Attican Traverse have risen up, and money is going to protect those humans. Many analyst, mostly non-human says that this state cannot be maintained forever, and humans should protect themselves; but for today? This is Alina T'Bin, reporting to you live, from Citadel Newsnet."_

"Idiots…" Riva said, as she turned the screen off. She knew exactly where are those credits are funneled: protection money to the Terminus Systems to not to attack Council Space.

"Good morning, Riva." Hannah walked into the room fully dressed. This was the day Lena is having her surgery.

"Oh, good morning, Hannah." Riva said while standing up. "I'll have to leave in a couple of minutes…" She said, while almost losing her balance, but fortunately there was a nearby chair.

"Are you alright?" Hannah asked as she checked her emails.

"Yes… yes." Riva answered. "But I really should get going." She said, and walked past the human woman. Hannah turned around, and saw Lena sitting on the chair.

"I saw you leaving the room."

"Did I wake you up?"

"No… I couldn't sleep well."

"Why?"

Hannah looked around. "Look. I'll tell you a secret after your surgery, okay?"

Lena looked down. "Okay."

"We should get ready. Go have a shower." She said to her daughter. Lena walked into their room, and shut the door.

Hannah walked to the window that looked to a portion of the Presidium Commons. She looked at the vista for minutes, just enjoying the beauty of the Citadel, although in her heart, she will always love Mindoir.

Lena walked into the room in fresh clothes. "Are you ready?" Her mother asked.

"Y-yes." She answered. Hannah picked up her bag, and they walked out the door.

. . .

_The sounds of machines were heard all over the place. It was both disturbing, but also comforting, feeling that she was still alive. When she opened her eyes, she saw that she wasn't alone. She tried to speak, but somebody didn't let that._

_ . . ._

Faint music was played in the hall of the hospital. Lena looked around, and saw members from various species sitting on chairs, waiting to be seen by a doctor. She and her mother walked to the asari receptionist.

"How can I help you?" She asked. Lena was amazed by her dark blue skin.

"Umm, we are here for surgery… I-We have an appointment Dr. Ravin."

"Oh, yes, she has talked about you. One of the assistant will show you the way." She said.

Another asari in a white coat has already joined the Shepards. "Please follow me." She said, and started walking toward the decontamination chamber. Throughout the walk they went past various wards. The walls were covered with texts in alien languages that Lena did not understand.

"Here we are. Dr. Ravin will arrive in any moment, and she will tell you what to do."

"Thanks." Hannah said, and the asari left.

A few moments went past, and the doctor appeared. She approached the Shepards, and greeted them.

"Good morning. You ready?" She asked Lena.

She didn't answer. "She's a bit nervous, that's all." Her mother said.

"That's understandable. We'll have the operating room ready in fifteen minutes. I'll show you the way." She said, and the Shepards followed them.

She guided them into a room which had a bed by a window, a bathroom and shelves. "She needs to change into specific clothes. An assistant will be here in five minutes." And she left the room.

Hannah looked around. The bed was a standard hospital bed, the bathroom was one fourth of the whole size of the room and the shelves was positioned on the other side. "Should I help you?" She asked her daughter.

"I think I can do it."

"Change in the bathroom, and give me your clothes when you unclothed."

"Okay."

She went into the bathroom with the clothes that was like a dress, but made out of plastic, and had the logo of the hospital on it. Lena handed out her clothes, one by one to her mother through the half-opened door. After a minute or so, she came out in the light-green hospital clothes.

"You look… okay!" Her mother said, trying to cheer her up.

"Thanks."

"Are you ready?" A human male assistant stepped into the room through the open door. "You can stay in this room if you want; the surgery will take two or three hours."

"Thanks." Hannah said. She turned to her daughter, who started sobbing. "Hey, everything will be alright, okay?"

"I don't want to go." She said.

"I know..." Hannah looked down then into her daughter's eyes. "But… you have to… Remember what I told you? About that secret?"

"Yes…" Lena said, as she rubbed her eyes.

"You want to know that, right?"

"Y-yes."

"Then have strength in that." Was her mother's last words before Lena walked away with the assistant.

Hannah just stood there for minutes before she finally stepped out of the room and into the waiting area.

. . .

_A/N: This chapter was hard to write. I'm hoping that during the holidays I can write more. __Oh, and I put in a reference to a song from one of my favourite artist. Can you find it?_

_Thanks for reading, and if you can, please favorite, follow and write a review! In the next chapter, Lena has a vision, a dream during her surgery about the future, and the mysterious krogan makes an appearance!_


	5. Episode 5: A New Being

__******Episode Five: A New Being**

_The scents of flowers flew with the warm spring wind. Hannah sat in the middle of a field, leaning against a tree which gave cooling shadows. Her daughter sat with her by the tree, and was sleeping. Hannah was smiling at her._

_The scene quickly drifted. Hannah was now standing in Vancouver, by the spaceport. She stood there, while Lena held her hand. They were one of the first groups to go to a far planet called Mindoir, to live there as colonists._

_Lena was excited, but Hannah was afraid. For twenty years, she has been taught that no other life exists in the universe, but then, just after five years, everything changed. The intelligent races of the galaxy welcome the humans to the Citadel. New habitable planets were discovered as potential colonies._

_As they stepped into the spaceship, the scene drifted once again. Now she was on Mindoir, watching her daughter lay on the floor, with small electric sparks. She felt shocked, unable to move. Several seconds later paramedics arrived, helping both her and her daughter._

Hannah woke up silently in the waiting area of the hospital. She looked around, and yawned. She stood up, and looked at her omni-tool, checking the time. Only twenty minutes had passed since the start, and the surgery was planned to be five or six hour long. The warm air and the scents of medicines made her sleepy, so she decided she takes a walk in the park of the hospital.

Stepping out of the elevator, she looks around. There are members of various species, walking around, sitting on a bench, or letting their feet in the lake of the presidium. '_Huh, why not?'_ she thought, and walked to the lake, took off her shoes, and sat down that her feet is sunk into the water of the lake. An asari couple did the same, not far from her, and a turian female, too, to her right.

Looking around, there were ads from a lot of organizations. The Armali Council showed a face of an asari, with the label '_For all your biotic and tech needs_'. Next to it was an ad of the human N7 program, with the label of '_Help advance humanity peacefully!'_

Hannah never understood why militaries had commercials with heroes or heroines, because a soldier who fights to be that same hero or heroine is not a good soldier. They'll make mistakes which will cause their death or their comrade's death.

. . .

_She walks down a metal corridor. Apparently, she is following somebody, but she doesn't know why, or when did she start it. From what she can tell, that somebody is a female, and possibly not human as Lena couldn't find any hair. She looked to her right, and saw another human walking with her._

_"Where do you think they are going?" He asked._

_"I don't know…" Lena answered, but she didn't plan to do so. It was just reflexes._

_The female figure walked past behind a corner. Lena and the other human walked up to the corner, and eavesdropped. The mysterious female talked in another language._

"Ni'ti?" _The krogan asked._

"U. Di se'gil." _The female answered._

_"What are they talking about?" The human male asked Lena, as he knew that she can speak the alien language called _Khelis_._

_"I'm… not sure. She brought something to the krogan, but she loves somebody… I don't understand it."_

"Se cuddo. Ni'it, dun nuan heva then'gil."_ The krogan said angrily._

"Se… se…"_ The female hesitated._

"Gothdj er'out ti."_ The krogan said and left._

_Lena and the human male started walking back. Again, Lena walked and talked unintentionally. "So?" The human male asked._

_"They… talked about the thing she gave to him. And that she needs to kill." Lena explained as they walked back on the metal corridors into the room._

_"Who?" The human male asked. He seemed concerned._

_"I don't know."_

_"But we need to! We have a potential threat on our ship!" He said, and stepped in front of Lena._

_"Enough, lieutenant!" Lena angrily exclaimed. "It's my ship, and we won't do anything unless we find clear evidence, understood?"_

_"But-"_

_"She's innocent until proven guilty. Now go back to your post, and think about it." She said, and walked past the shocked male._

_. . ._

Hannah stood up from the lake, and walked back to the hospital. Only fifteen minutes left until the surgery is complete. She already visited the presidium commons and returned to the lake three or four times.

"Hannah Shepard?" A Dr. Ravin asked as she stepped into the hallway from the elevator.

"Yes?" She asked back.

"The operation is finished, without incidents." She said, and continued. "We implanted the new L5n vanguard implants to your daughter as well as a port to them if software update is necessary."

"What do you mean by a port?" Hannah asked.

"Through that we can connect to the implants if they need maintenance or, as I said, software upgrade."

"Could she hurt somebody by her abilities?" Hannah asked.

"Your concern is viable. The L5n is one of the most advanced implants one could have. She won't collapse to the ground unconsciously, but small electric discharges may happen.

"Thank you. And if I ask, what will she be able to if she'll recover?"

"The implants allow for a wide range of abilities from changing the mass of objects to stretching space and time to allow instant travel. Specifically, she will be able to lift objects, people included, damage them or travel a short distance instantly. Of course, more abilities may be implanted through software upgrade, but that should be her choice."

"Thank you very much, doctor."

"Oh, and one more thing." Dr. Ravin said, "The Systems Alliance favors biotics in offense squads. As her legal guardian, you have the ability to sign a contract."

"What kind of?" Hannah asked.

"We have to report all new biotics to the Alliance. I received an offer for her to; when she reaches age, join the N7 program."

"Yeah, I saw the ads…"

"I personally can't decide what would be good for her. They said that even if you refuse now, the offer will stay available."

"I… don't know. I'll have to ask her."

"Of course. You can visit her in a minute, after the nurses take her out of the operating room."

"Thanks." Hannah said, and Dr. Ravin walked away. While walking back to Lena's room, she thought about the offer. One though always came back: _I don't want her to risk her life._

When Hannah arrived to Lena's room, the girl was already there, awake. "Good morning," Hannah greeted her daughter.

"Hello!" Lena said, while her mother hugged her.

"So, did it hurt?"

"No. I slept through it. But… my neck itches a little… They said it will go away…" She said, scratching the back of her neck, right where the port is. Her dark red hair looked messed. Hannah put a curl behind her hair. A salarian doctor walked in to the room.

"Hello, Ms. Shepard." She said.

"Umm, hello. I'm interested if we can leave the hospital?" She asked.

"Most certainly. Let me give you something. The port on the girl's back can be connected to a standard omni-tool to check its condition." She said, and sent an application to Hannah's omni-tool.

"Thank you." She said, and the doctor left. She turned to her daughter, "Come on; let's get your things." Hannah said. She helped Lena sit up. While she gathered strength to stand up, her mother packed Lena's personal things such as her omni-tool and backpack.

She helped Lena stand up. "Why don't we go eat something?" She suggested.

"Okay…" Lena said, and they started to walk slowly, but steadily.

. . .

Everything was set. Illio stepped into the hospital with the chip. He knew that the parents of the quarian girl are in there, with her. His plans were that he distracts them, and separates the male from the rest. He then gives him an injection, in which there is the microchip.

Illio, and the Brawlers, as they call themselves, is a known terrorist organization from the Terminus Systems. They had been developing a microchip, which can send data to a specified location, or control the individual's movement.

The Brawlers wanted to control the Terminus Systems then the galaxy by implanting those microchips into the council members. But firstly, they had to test it out on someone, and that someone was chosen to be Rak, Lia's father.

"Mr. Vael." Illio said without emotion, stepping into the room.

"Yes?" He asked, through his mask.

"I need you to come with me."

"For what?" He asked skeptically.

"The hospital's staff wants to speak to you."

"Okay…" He said, and followed the turian nurse.

Rak followed Illio to a small hallway, which lacked people. Illio typed something into his omni-tool, and all doors leading to the hallway closed.

"I'm sorry Rak." He said

"For what?" He asked back, but a syringe has already penetrated his envirosuit. At the moment he felt the pain, he picked up his knife from one of his pockets, and stabbed it into the turian's jaw. Dark blue blood started to flow out from the wound. His eyes looked at the quarian until he collapsed to the ground.

Rak looked at the syringe. As the doors slid open, and the medical staff rushed in, he dropped both the knife and the syringe, and collapsed on the ground, on top of the blood-stained body of the late turian.

Not knowing anything, Lia and Feda has been talking about what they called home: Mindoir. Feda had trouble calling that planet home, as she was raised in the Migrant Fleet, and while Lia lived most of her life in the fleet, she began to like Mindoir.

They talked for an hour, when a nurse rushed into the room to deliver the bad news.

"You husband has been attacked!" He said.

"What?" Feda asked while standing up.

"He was found in one of the hallways, lying on a dead turian."

"Is he okay?"

"We've taken her into a clear room. Looks like he's been infected."

"Keelah… Take me to him." Feda said, and turned to her daughter. "I'll be right back."

While running to the clean room, they ran across the Shepards, slowly walking in the direction of the exit. The nurse and the quarian ran past so fast that Hannah didn't have time to greet them.

"What was that?" Lena asked.

"I don't know… I'm going to check it out. Why don't you go to Lia's room?" Her mother said.

"Okay."

Feda and the nurse arrived into the clean room. Feda saw her husband lying on the bed. "Keelah…" Feda said. Behind her, nurses transported Illio's dead body. A hand landed on Feda's shoulder.

"What happened?" Hannah asked. She couldn't see, but she felt that Feda is crying.

"They said he… was attacked." She managed to say.

"By who?"

"A turian, they think." Feda said. Hannan stepped closer, and hugged the sobbing quarian.

. . .

"Hello." Lena greeted Lia.

"Oh, hello." The quarian girl said, sitting up in the bed. Lena had to go through decontamination as Lia was still in a clean room as well as her father. "Why are you walking like that?" She asked, referring to Lena's unnatural walking speed.

"You know, I had my surgery." She answered.

"Ah, yes."

"And you?" Lena asked the quarian.

"They said that they can't repair my leg until my infection goes down. I feel good, but they know better. And can you do some biotic tricks?"

"I didn't try. Maybe we I go home I'll try something basic. Do you know why your mother rushed away?"

Lia looked down, "They said my father was attacked."

"Oh." Lena said. That one word contained a lot of emotion.

They sat for minutes in silence, both trying to think of something to say. The notification of Lena's omni-tool broke the silence.

_From: Hannah Shepard  
To: Lena Shepard_

_Subject: [No subject]_

_Hey,_

_I spoke with the doctors, and they let Lia go home. Feda needs some sleep Rak is sleeping; we don't know when will he wake up, or what happened, and we don't want to leave Lia alone._

_I'm coming to help Lia up, and we'll meet Feda by the skycar._

_Hannah_

"My mother just said that we'll take you to the apartment with your mother."

"Yeah. Thought that it would be expensive to just stay here until I get better."

"I help you get your things. What do you have here?"

"Not much." Lia said, sitting a little more up. "I mean I have the suit I think there," she said, and pointed to a drawer, "and everything is in it."

"This?" Lena asked, walking to the drawer.

"Y-yes." Lia answered.

Lena touched the green interface, and the door of the drawer opened with a swish. Inside there was the green suit Lia used to wear.

"Do you need help?" Lena asked, referring to dressing up.

"I don't think." She answered, "But if I need, I'll tell you." Lia said.

Lena picked up the suit, and started swinging her hand to give it to Lia, but instead of simply giving it to her; she made an unintentional biotic throw in the direction of Lia. Blue electricity started going from her hand, and surrounded the suit, which was propelled right unto Lia's lap. If it had been arriving just 10 centimeters lower, it would've been landed right on the broken leg.

Lena froze in the pose she threw the suit, "Are you alright?"

Lia's pupils were wide open, she said, "Y-yes, I think yes." And after just seconds, she added, "Whoa… That was… awesome."

"Yeah." Lena answered, sitting down onto a chair. "Only if I could use it consciously…"

"I'm sure you'll get better." Lia commented, and asked, "Could you help me walk into the bathroom?"

"Of course." Lena answered. She stood up, and helped Lia stand up, walk into the bathroom, and helped her to sit down to a chair, all while not looking at her body as she didn't wear any clothes because she spent the last few days in a bed.

"Thanks." Lia said. Lena exited the room, and closed the door by tapping on the green interface.

. . .

"Status report." The krogan said.

"Our agent has been eliminated." A salarian officer answered.

"And the microchip?" The krogan asked nervously.

"Initial results show that the microchip started working, and set the user into sleeping mode." The salarian said, and the krogan started walking away. "But may I say, Tarx, isn't it a little harsh?"

Tarx, the krogan turned back. He wore the Brawler's red and white insignia on her side and his weapons, which consisted of an M300 Claymore, and a Blood Pack Punisher, which he stole after he killed a local group single handedly; and of course, his fists. "I want to rule the galaxy!" He said, stressing 'I', "And if sacrificing a single turian gets me closer to it, I will do it. Do you understand it?"

The salarian, who also wore the Brawler's insignia said, "Of course, Sir!" And the krogan head-butted him.

. . .

"I'm ready!" Lia shouted from the closed bathroom. Lena opened the door, and helped her walk back. They sat down onto the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Lena asked.

"Good. My leg doesn't hurt thanks to painkillers." Lia said. Seconds later Hannah stepped into the room.

"Oh, hello girls, ready to go?" She asked.

They both nodded, and Lena helped Lia to stand up, and walk to the skycar. In the car, she helped Lia sit down in the second row, and the two parents sit down in the first row, with Hannah driving. Originally Feda didn't want to leave, as all her family member was in the hospital, but when Hannah pointed out that she didn't sleep in two days, and they can leave with Lia until she is ready for the bone repairing then she agreed to it.

When they were flying in the car, she felt asleep in the seat.

When they arrived at the apartment, Lena helped Lia stand up while Hannah woke up Feda. They approached the elevator, and they were surprised that Riva opened the door for them.

"Oh, hello Riva! How did you know we are here?" Hannah asked the asari spectre, as they were walking in.

The spectre looked at Lia, who was leaning against Lena, "I actually saw you getting out of your car when I looked down the window, you know…" She said while sitting down. "I heard you had your surgery, Lena." She said. Feda already left to group to have some sleep.

Helping Lia to put her in a convenient position, Lena answered, "Yes. And you both were right," she said, looked at her mother and Riva, "it didn't hurt. Just the port on my neck itches a little." Lena said. Hannah stood up to get a drink for herself.

Those ports every implanted biotic got is more like a part of the body where the implants can receive signal, without wires. "Oh, I read about that. The itching is caused by water heating up in small… pockets. It will leave after a day or so, when your body fully accepted the implants." Riva answered.

"When will you return to Mindoir?" Hannah asked, taking a sip from her drink.

"The day after tomorrow, and I'll stay for four days."

"I'd like to go with you, because in the haste we left I forgot some personal things."

"But only you? What about Lena?" The asari asked.

"I don't know if FTL travel would be good for her." Hannah explained.

"What?" Lena asked, as she didn't pay attention to what her mother spoke about, as she was busy talking with Lia.

"I'm going back to Mindoir for a few days to get some personal things, like books, clothes and electronics, nothing more, as the doctors are planning a long recovery for you." She said, and added, "Oh, and we'll have to search for a school here… Maybe one that has biotic training, too."

"I know one!" Riva said, "They mostly teach asari children, but they're accepting everyone with biotic abilities. It's a private school, but I could get you in."

"That would be great. But of course, after you are well. And that's months, the doctors said." Hannah said, and took one more sip from her drink.

. . .

_Lena walked on the very same corridor again. The female wasn't here, but she wanted to find her. Like observing a scene, she did not have any control on where she goes, or what she does._

_She was standing in front of a door in the engineering. She could feel the heat coming from the engines, although she didn't hear any of the noise she thought she would hear._

_She tapped the green interface, and the door slid open. A quarian was working in a terminal, facing the wall to her left. Lena approached her. "Hello… I brought you this." She said, and handed the quarian some flowers that Lena didn't know of._

_"Thanks!" The energetic quarian said, and hugged Lena. At the moment the quarian touched her, she felt something she couldn't describe. She felt warmness inside… Happiness…_

And then she woke up. She and her mother slept in the same room. She silently got up, and walked into the bathroom, and looked in the mirror. Her dark red hair grew past her shoulders, but with only a couple of centimeters.

She touched the back of her neck, but she didn't feel the port they mentioned. Opening her omni-tool she checked their status. Everything was green.

For minutes she looked at the mirror; looking at herself. And then a thought came to her mind. She place a toothbrush to a shelf, stepped back a couple of meters, and tried to redo her movements she did with Lia's suit.

Swinging her arm, she managed to send a biotic pulse to the toothbrush, but as it was close to the wall, the energy made it bounce back from the wall, and flew past her. "That's a start…" She quietly said.

What she was more interested in was what she called a charge; when she could travel faster than light to a specific location close to her, but weeks of practice would be needed to perform such things as those. Exhausted enough, she switched off the lights, closed the bathroom door and returned to her bed to get some sleep. _Maybe that dream will continue…_

. . .

The next morning Lena woke up first, or she had thought. Walking into the living room she found Lia laying on the couch, and by the examining the two lighting dots in her visor, she was awake.

"Good morning," Lia greeted her friend.

"'Monrning." Lena greeted back. "Why are you awake so soon?"

"I couldn't sleep. My leg was always in the way."

"How did you come out here?"

"Slowly…" She answered. "You seem disturbed more than me. What's the problem?"

"Some weeks ago, on Mindoir before we stepped aboard the ship you tried to tell me something. What was that?"

Lia remembered that day. Trying to stay awake, she tried to tell Lena her feelings; that since they met, she felt happiness, and every time they were together she felt warmness inside. And she was afraid that she'll die, and wanted to confess to her. "I just wanted to say that…" And she stopped for a second. _Should I tell her or not… _"I appreciate everything you did for me." _Not for now…_

"You're welcome." Lena answered. "Don't you want to go down to the presidium lake?"

"With this leg?" She asked back.

"Why not? I'll help you." Lena suggested.

"Okay. Help me stand up." Lia said through her helmet.

Lena put Lia's arm around her neck, and helped her stand up. They had to synchronize their walking so when Lia would've stepped on her broken leg she doesn't need to put any weight on it. Fortunately, they only had to walk to the elevator, because it pretty much took them to the lake.

When they arrived, they found a nearby bench to sit on. "The view is beautiful…" Lia said, looking at the vista.

"But?" Lena asked, sensing there is something more.

"I can't smell things… I can't feel things. That's not a problem, until I want to…" Lia said, and then asked, "Could you describe the feel of the wind and the sun?" And she looked straight to the human's eyes.

"Well…" Lena started._ What to tell her? _"It's like… I don't know. You feel warmness on your skin, and the wind? The same, but with comfortable coolness."

"There is not much we can do here…" Lia said, looking around. "One day, I'd like to step out of this suit and then jump into that lake."

"That day, I'll help you with that." Lena added. "Come on, let's go back." She said, and helped Lia back to the apartment.

. . .

Having some spare moments, Lena decided she wants to try out her other abilities as well, and show them to Lia. She could lift things, and also throw them. Next one she thought to be is pull. She concentrated on a book in the far side of the living room. She lifted her arm, and so did the book, and although she moved her arm closer to herself, the book was sent flying to the left hand side.

Exhausted using her ability, she sat down to the bed beside Lia. "That was impressive."

"I thought it would work…" The human girl answered.

"But for the first time, it was good."

"Maybe… I want to help people."

"How?"

"I don't know. Maybe, if I would be strong enough, I could lift you, and help you go somewhere by that."

"I don't know if I want to fly. Turians are the face painted birds, not the quarians." Lia said. There was truth in there; the turians are essentially walking birds with face tattoos.

"You have face paint, too." Lena said. When they were in the hospital, she saw her face had silver lines on it. "And hair. That's not possible; nobody has hair, only humans."

"That's not face paint." Lia answered. "And quarians have hair, too." She added.

"Excluding the face paint, quarians are very similar to us." Lena said. "But you don't have ears." She added.

"Ugh… that is not face paint," She said, with emphasis on 'not', "And no, we have ears, only we don't have those large ear lobes… And I always wonder how could you walk with five fingers? Why don't you tip over every time you walk?"

"What?" Lena asked back humorously.

"The quarians, turians, salarians, the voli all have three fingers. Five's too much, three's just perfect."

"But you can't play games that require five fingers" Lena counterattacked her.

"That's true… But most games require three fingers." Lia successfully answered. "Did you know that most omni-tool controls are designed for three fingers; even your expensive one from the Alliance?"

Speaking of omni-tools, Lia's blinked online with a message.

_From: [Sender blocked]  
To: Lia'Vael_

_Subject: Dear Respected one_

_Dear Respected one,_

_Let me tell you that I'm Wu'Mi, a turian from a wealthy background. My parents were poisoned two days ago, and left me with a bank account of 12,520,000 credits (twelve million five hundred and twenty thousand credits). To successfully get this money, I have to transfer it to another account._

_Please give me your bank account and you'll get 50% of the money. Please feel free to contact me at this ID: [Wu'Mi]_

_Thanks, and Spirits be with you,  
Wu'Mi_

"I can't believe that those turian scam messages still exist." Lia said, and deleted the message and shook her head. Turian scam messages were a rarity by that time.

"We're going to check out a biotic school here on the Citadel." Lena said after minutes of silence.

"So you won't be going back to Mindoir?" Lia asked.

"Of course I will. But the doctors want me to stay here and I wouldn't leave my best friend behind." She said.

. . .

Riva had a hearing with the Council. She took the long elevator ride up to the Council Chambers in the Citadel Tower. Up there, an asari assistant approached her.

"Good morning. You have a hearing with the Council, Spectre Vasir?" She asked.

"Yes." She answered.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait in the lounge. Another person is currently speaking with the Council." She said. A salarian was speaking to the Council that he might've seen the asari who went berserk few weeks ago. "I'll guide you into the waiting lounge." She calmly said. Riva followed the other asari through countless corridors to a room filled with chairs, a screen which showed the hearing room and food for both levo and dextro based life forms on a table.

Riva sat down and watched the stream.

_"So you say that you saw that asari buying medicine from your shop?" _The turian councilor asked.

_"Yes! Saw her, wanted to help." _He answered quickly.

_"Can you describe how she looked like?" _The asari councilor asked.

"_Umm… She had blue skin and…" _He said and after seconds of thinking he continued, "_purple! Purple facial markings. Uncommon. Never forget."_

_"Thank you. As promised, we'll transfer two-hundred and fifty credits for giving directions in finding her."_

_"Thank you, Councilors."_ He said.

_"This meeting of the council is adjourned." _The asari councilor announced. The salarian bowed then left the room.

"Ms. Vasir? It's time." The assistant said from the door.

"Thanks." She replied.

Walking back to the corridor she took a left. At the end she saw a large door opening, with the salarian coming through. She felt anxiety every time she spoke with the council. Stepping out she felt like all reflectors are looking at her.

She walked to the end of the platform. "Spectre Riva Vasir." The asari councilor greeted her. "We called you to give you a status update on your mission on Mindoir."

The turian spoke up, "We heard that you befriended a human girl from the colony."

Sensing she is in bad position, she said, "With all due respect, councilors-" but she was interrupted.

"We approve." The turian continued. "Having inside sources from the colony makes your original mission easier."

"We know more and more about humans with each passing day." The salarian said, "Without our eyes on the colonies, we wouldn't know if we could live in peace, or they are a threat to be eliminated."

"Your mission remains unchanged, Spectre Vasir." The asari spoke. "Learn as much as you can from the colony Mindoir with or without human help. We expect regular reports from you."

"Of course, councilors." Riva acknowledged.

"If there is nothing else then this meeting of the council is adjourned."

. . .

Feda, as every day, was on her was to the hospital. While on a passenger shuttle, her omni-tool blinked online with a message.

_From: Huerta Memorial staff  
To: Feda'Vael_

_Subject: [Invalid subject]_

_Dear Feda'Vael vas Ulnay,_

_We are very sorry to inform you that your bondmate, Rak'Vael vas Ulnay passed away this morning. The hospital staff will guarantee a proper funeral for him._

_Daien D'Nol  
Nurse of the Huerta Memorial Hospital_

Feda could feel anger inside her. But after just one second, the quarian woman felt sadness. Immediately, her eyes began to water as she turned off her helmet's voice transfer, keeping her feelings to herself.

. . .

_A/N: Thanks for reading! If you can, please follow, favorite and write a review! In the next episode, Hannah and Riva leaves for Mindoir just as Feda finds out a secret._


	6. Episode 6: A New Shock

**Episode 6: A New Shock**

_"We can't hold the attack much longer." _A low-pitched voice came through the communicator. _"What's your status?"_

Tarx answered as best as he could. "The chip is working, and we can control the subject." He said.

_"What about the spectre?" _The male asked again.

"She's going back to the colony. I suggest waiting for another month or two."

_"For what reason?" _ The male was getting angrier. _"You know I hate waiting."_

"Of course, Khorshan." The krogan answered. He couldn't continue his sentence as the batarian hung up.

. . .

Feda arrived into the hospital after a refreshing walk by the Presidium Lake. She thought about her life, their time in the Migrant Fleet, how Rak could always cheer her up, how he was a loving husband. And now he was gone.

She had to raise her daughter alone; her daughter, who awaits critical surgery. But for every bad thing that happened in the past she could list good things as well. She had wonderful friends, both Hannah and Lena.

Walking through the entrance, she approached the reception. "Hello" She greeted the asari receptionist.

"Good morning, how can I help you?" She asked.

"I… I got a message about… about…" She couldn't say it. Instead, she showed the message to the receptionist, who nodded and ran a search in the database. The result shocked her. She saw evidence of hacking in the database. Several entries were lost or corrupted. It looked like someone wanted to erase Rak from the database, to look like he was never there.

"Please, follow me." She said, and guided Feda to her husband's room. When they arrived there, at least a dozen C-Sec officers were there, investigating. Peeking inside, Feda saw the inside of the room empty, bed included. "What happened here?" The receptionist asked one of the officers.

"We got a report of a missing person."

"That's impossible. There was an outgoing message about that person not missing but dying."

"Could this be associated with this morning's hacking, Ms. D'Nol?"

"D'Nol?" Feda joined the conversation. "Are you Daien D'Nol?"

"Yes, why?" The asari asked back.

"The message, what I showed you when I arrived, was signed with your name."

"I would remember that…" The asari answered. "Maybe the hacker sent it, but for what reason?" She thought aloud.

The turian C-Sec officer raised his arm to his mouth. "Code red, code red. Lock the hospital, we got a possibility of someone stealing patients, I repeat, someone is stealing patients."

"What should we do?" The asari asked.

"Check the cameras. I and my team will search the rooms."

"Alright." She said and left back to the security room. Feda was shocked since the turian said the words _stealing patients_.

. . .

_She was standing in a street. The sun was shining, and the weather looked nice, but she felt coldness. She felt that feeling again. Walking a few steps, she found herself looking into a mirror. She didn't believe her eyes. Her hair was longer, reaching her back, and her facial complexity looked… different; older, if she had to find a word._

_There was a house to her left. She entered through the open door. Inside, she heard a familiar voice. "Go on!" The older woman said._

_The little one did something and she quietly exclaimed. "It couldn't be…"_

_"Merry Christmas, Lena." The older woman spoke again. They embraced in a hug. She felt warmness inside._

_With a loud bang, the older woman's head exploded into small pieces, but the little one still hugged her. She just stood there, with her hands shaking._

Lena woke up again, after having a nightmare. Her mother was sitting by her bed, caressing her by her hair. "What's wrong?" Hannah asked when she saw that her daughter's shaking wouldn't stop.

She couldn't answer from the shock. The picture of the little girl holding her mother's dead body was still floating before her eyes. Her mother hugged her, but as Hannah touched Lena, the girl screamed. "No!"

With that screaming she looked like she escaped the shock, her breathing returning to normal. "Are you okay?" Hannah asked once again. Lena still didn't answer. She hugged her mother tightly, and her eyes began to water. "Shh, it's okay." Her mother tried to comfort her.

The next day was special. Hannah would leave to Mindoir to gather some personal things for their staying on the Citadel. She hopes she can come back to the Citadel in three days, but that all depends on the captain of the SSV Einstein, Michael Hackett.

After her daughter escaped the shock, she cried herself into sleeping. Hannah was afraid that it would happen again, so she didn't let go of her daughter for a minute; she spent the night by her. When she woke up, she carefully read a news message on her omni-tool.

_From: Michael Hackett  
To: Hannah Shepard_

_Subject: Mindoir_

_Ms. Shepard,_

_The ship will depart at 1pm. The trip will take 15 hours. Fortunately, thanks to special circumstances, we can depart on the same day, after our ship is fully restocked._

_Thank you,  
Captain Michael Hackett._

_At least that's good news… _Hannah thought. Lena slowly opened her eyes, and yawned. "Good morning." Hannah said while smiling.

"Good morning." Lena greeted her back.

They both got up, and changed into their usual clothes. Hannah noticed that Lena slowly takes more and more time in the bathroom. Her theory was that as she becomes older, she spends more time in making herself look nicer. Her theory was almost correct, with the exclusion of small biotic training. That day, Lena could confidently change the mass of an object, thus throwing or pulling it.

Coming out of the bathroom, Hannah noticed that her daughter's hair is almost reaching her shoulders. "Shouldn't you need to get a haircut?" She asked.

"Nah, I like it." She said, touching her nice long hair.

"As you wish." Hannah answered.

By the time they woke up, Feda already left to the hospital, and Lia made her way out to the living room. Hannah made breakfast for Lia and Lena, and they both sat down by the table close to the couch Lia lay on.

"You know that I go back to Mindoir today?" Hannah asked her daughter.

"Yes. I'm gonna miss you." She answered.

"I won't be long, probably coming back in two or three days. But I want to ask something."

"Sure, what?"

"Be careful. And don't leave the apartment without Feda, okay?"

"Of course, mom."

. . .

"What do you mean by stealing patients?" Feda asked the turian officer.

"Look, ma'am. You got a message saying your bondmate is dead, and when we arrived here he was gone. The hospital doesn't know about it. What else could be the explanation?" The turian asked.

"I… I don't know." Feda answered.

"You should go home." The asari receptionist arrived back from the security room.

"Maybe… that would be the best." The quarian answered, and she slowly, but steadily walked away.

"What did you find?" The officer asked the asari.

"Nothing, but we're seeing a loop. It shows the quarian is still there."

"That's troublesome."

. . .

Hannah grabbed her shoulder bag and walked toward the door. Lena was right behind her to say her goodbyes. "I promise I'll be back before you know it, okay?" Hannah said.

"But what if something happens to you?" Lena asked back.

"Look, nothing will happen to me." Hannah assured her daughter. "I'll be back in one piece."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. I'll see you in two days." She said.

"I love you." Lena said, and they embraced in a hug.

"I love you two. But I must go. Bye!" Hannah said, and closed the door behind her. Her heart ached because she had to leave her daughter behind.

Lena walked back to the living room of the apartment, and sat down to the couch. After minutes of sitting in silence, he asked Lia, "Are you okay? Do you need something?"

Lia only wore the body parts of her suit. The apartment's air was controlled to make it clean enough to let her head exposed. "No, thank you." She answered. To keep the conversation going, she asked back about the biotic school she talked about. "Have you a school?"

"No, not yet. When my mother arrives, we'll search for one. Riva assured me that there is a good one not far from here." She said, and added. "But travelling with these passenger shuttles, everything seems close. Not like at home."

"But I think that's good." Lia answered. "The tram had a feeling to it. Watching the vista fly by… I like it."

"I hope we'll be back soon." Lena said. She kind of missed _her_ homeworld. She was interested in if Lia felt that regarding the Migrant Fleet.

"Don't worry. I can leave the Citadel at the moment they fix my leg." She said and looked at it with her glowing eyes.

The door chimed and the girls heard it open with a swish. They heard Feda slowly walking in. "Good morning, mother." Lia greeted her.

"Good morning, Feda." So did Lena.

"Good morning." She greeted them. "Um… Lia, I want to… speak with you." She said, as quietly as she could.

"What's the problem, mother?"

"I'll be in my room." Lena said and left the living room.

When Lena left the room, Feda continued. "I want to talk about your father." She said; her eyes started to water, although Lia couldn't see it.

"Is he alright?" Lia asked.

Feda had to decide, what to tell. Tell her that his father's dying body was stolen, or he actually died? Both were hard enough to understand. "He…" This was the moment when she had to make a decision. "Died this morning." And she didn't say more.

"W-What?"

Feda tried to explain her morning, without the incident. For that part, she made up that his body was already been taken to a different place in the hospital and that the staff said that she should probably go home.

. . .

The ship already left the Citadel and was in its way toward the mass relay. Hannah sat at the table in the mess hall, reading something on her omni-tool. She heard somebody approaching her. She looked up and saw Riva sitting down in front of her.

"Good morning, Riva." Hannah greeted the asari spectre.

"Good morning."

"So, are you staying on Mindoir for a longer time?" Hannah asked, trying to make a topic for conversation.

"Yes, actually I won't be coming back to the Citadel for a month or two. You?" She asked the human woman.

"I'm coming back with the ship on the same day."

"How's your daughter?" She asked.

"Good. But she's having nightmares recently." Hannah said. "I usually wake up in the night for her screaming, and when she wakes up, she's still kind of shocked." She explained.

Riva thought about it for a second. "Well I'm no doctor, but the implants may cause it."

"How?"

"They are directly attached to the nervous system. A little error in the software and it sends a series of wrong signals to the brain."

"So what you're saying is… I should update my daughter's software?" She said, and added, "Creepy. I always wondered if the asari had these kinds of problems as well."

"No, not really. We don't need implants, only amplifiers, which works differently. Some can refuse to develop their powers, but, to the best of my knowledge, they don't suffer from nightmares."

"How can you be so sure?"

"You know… we can meld with others, to see their thoughts. And they melded with those who didn't develop their abilities in the past, and they didn't have any wrong with them, just the lack of biotics."

"I heard something like that. It could be very powerful, doesn't it?"

"Melding?" Riva asked. "Well, if you're talking about forced melds, then no. The other… partner needs to acknowledge and allow our presence."

"_Approaching mass relay, in three, two, one._" The helmsman announced through the intercom, and the ship entered the corridor made by the mass relay.

The asari yawned. "I'm feeling a bit tired. Would you mind if I leave?"

"No, of course not."

"Have a good journey." Riva said as he stood up. Moments later she already left the room.

. . .

Lia was shocked. For a bare moment she couldn't breathe. She and her mother embraced in a hug while the only thing she could say was "No… no…" while sobbing.

"Why don't you talk with Lena? I'll help you in. Maybe she'll cheer you up." Feda said as she stood up.

"Where… where are you going?" Lia asked.

"I have to walk for a bit." She said. Slowly gathering herself she walked toward the door and left.

Lena heard the conversation come to an end, and walked back to the living room to rejoin Lia. Seeing that she's crying a little, Lena sits close to the little quarian. "What happened?"

"My… my father…" She said, but couldn't finish the sentence.

Lena understood what she wanted to tell. She took a deep breath. "It's going to be okay."

"Maybe." Lia answered. They just stayed there, in deep silence.

At that point, they've been friends for a couple of years, and got to know each other very well. They both knew that they can't count on the other. They've been through a lot of things, and Lena thought that this is her task to comfort and reassure her.

"Do you want a tissue?" Lena asked to break the silence.

"No, I mean, not yours." Lia answered. "My nose would answer with an allergic reaction." She explained. Lena was loved the way Lia always explained something. "But if you can, there is one in my bag in my room." She said.

Lena stood up, and returned with the quarian version of the thin paper, which was basically a normal human tissue, but made from materials native to dextro-amino planets. "How do you call it again?" Lena asked to distract Lia about his father's death, and probably cheer her up.

After blowing her nose and wiping the tear from her eyes, she said, "Ah, it's a wa'shi." She said.

"What would happen if you would rub your nose into one of the paper tissues?" Lena asked, further distracting the little quarian.

"Well, in that case, my nose would swell, and turn red, like a… like a… clown?" Lena chuckled at her comparison. "Then I would start to sweat, and after that… well, I don't really know. But it's definitely not lethal." She explained.

"Good to hear." Lena answered. "Do you want to watch a vid?" She asked.

"I don't know." She said.

"I found a datapad on one of the shelves. It's called Call Me Sally. I think Riva bought it."

"What is it about?"

"I think it's about an asari, who's disguised as a human; it's a comedy."

"Sounds fun." Lia said.

Lena stood up, and inserted the datapad into the screen which automatically started playing the movie.

. . .

"We are five minutes away from Mindoir." The helmsman announced as they passed several planets in the system.

Hannah was in her cabin, preparing to leave. She had a datapad with her, two large luggage, and her shoulder bag and her omni-tool. She didn't have to carry the two large bags around, as those were stored in the storage deck, and will be transported to the house.

She wanted to inform her daughter about her arrival, so she sent a message.

_From: Hannah Shepard  
To: Lena Shepard_

_Subject: Arrived to Mindoir_

_We're now arriving to Mindoir. Are you okay? I'm missing you so much. Remember, you have to eat to keep your strength._

_Love,  
Mom._

Tapping the sent button on her omni-tool, she sent the message. Lowering her arm, she picked up her shoulder bag, and walked toward the airlock. There, she found Riva, and other five of the crew of the SSV Einstein.

They left the ship after a couple of seconds of waiting. Hannah went straight to the tram, and was just in time to catch it before it leaves. During the trip, she periodically looked at her omni-tool to check the time.

She arrived to the house half an hour later. The two large bags were already there. _Okay, I have 12 hours to pack, and be back at the spaceport. _She thought. Stepping inside, the first thing she noticed was the cat, running and meowing when she saw Hannah.

She wanted to take the cat with her, but she didn't know what the ship's caption would say about it. Deciding it's the best to ask him, Hannah sent a message to Michael Hackett.

_From: Hannah Shepard  
To: Michael Hackett_

_Subject: Extra weight_

_Mr. Hackett,_

_Can I bring my cat aboard? I would keep it in my cabin to avoid problems. If yes, am I allowed to take it to the Citadel? Isn't there a law against it?_

_Thanks,  
Hannah Shepard._

She patted the cat, who purred in response. Moving on, Hannah walked into the living room and looked around. _What should I take with me? Datapads? _She thought. She shook her shoulders, and grabbed everything she could.

. . .

Lena decided to help Lia walk around the presidium commons with Feda. The quarian widow didn't get over her bondmate's death, but with each passing day, she cried less and less. They sat down to a bench near the lake.

Lena's omni-tool chimed, and displayed a message from her mother. She was relieved that her mother arrived safely. She didn't hesitate to send a reply.

_From: Lena Shepard  
To: Hannah Shepard_

_Subject: RE: Arrived to Mindoir_

_Yes, yes, I'm okay. We went to breathe fresh air (well, so to speak) with Lia. The doctors say that she can have her surgery in a week or so. I hope you arrive soon._

_Love,  
Lena_

And she tapped the send key. She didn't want to stress her mother with the fact that Lia's father died. It's not that important for her anyway.

"Are you okay?" Feda asked Lia, which pushed Lena back to reality. "Do you feel nauseous?"

"No." Lia answered.

"Do you want any food? Or drink?" Feda asked again. She seemed like being overprotective.

"No, thank you." Lia said through her helmet. "Can we go back, please?" She asked.

"Of course, whatever you want." Feda said. She and Lena stood up, allowing Lia to lean onto them, so they could walk slowly back to the elevator and to the apartment.

Quarians were not really a welcomed race on the Citadel, mainly because of the geth. Many people had died from geth attacks on colonies. A lot of people saw the quarians as beggars, and thieves, and generally nobody like them on the Citadel. People looked at them questioningly and confused when they saw that a member of the _new race_ helps _thieves_ with another_ beggar_.

They slowly made their way to the elevator, and stepped in. Lena pressed the button for the apartments, and the elevator ascended with speed. When the doors opened, they slowly walked out, and into the apartment. Lia felt tired, so they helped her into her room, and into the bed.

_She lay on the ground, unable to move, unable to see. People around her were running away from something. She tried to move as well, crawling on the floor of the ship. Suddenly, an arm grabbed her, and pretty much carried her to safety._

_She tried to open her eyes ones she felt stationary, but her eyes always closed every time she opened them. She felt something like an itch to see the room she was, but every time she tried to open her eyes, it reluctantly closed. She burst out in a screaming._

She woke up, and found her mother stroking her bare forehead with wetted cloth. She looked to the side. The clock showed that she had been sleeping for only fifteen minutes. "Are you alright?" Feda asked her daughter.

"Yes." She said, and kept sweating.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I was dreaming." She said. "A bad thing. But I'm good now. I'm still tired."

"I'll stay here." Feda reassured her as her eyes slowly closed.

. . .

Hannah was still in the house, gathering their stuff. The few printed books they had been already packed, in case anything happens. She was packing their clothes when two messages arrived to her omni-tool, almost at the same time. She stopped what she was doing, and raised her arm to check them.

_From: Michael Hackett  
To: Hannah Shepard_

_Subject: RE: Extra weight_

_Ms. Shepard_

_Cats and animals are allowed on the Citadel as far as I know, but only in private areas such as apartments. On the ship, however, they need to be in caged carriers._

_Captain Hackett,  
Alliance Military_

_Well that's good to hear, _she thought, and pressed the next message button. The next message had the subject _RE: Arrived to Mindoir. _Hannah instantly knew it was from her daughter, and was relieved that she's alright. Quickly typing a message, she sent an answer, regarding a little furry surprise she's taking with her.

_From: Hannah Shepard  
To: Lena Shepard_

_Subject: RE: RE: Arrived to Mindoir_

_Hey,_

_Good to hear. I have a little surprise running around me. If you promise to continue being good, I'll give it to you._

_Love,  
Mother._

Before the quarian family arrived to Mindoir, Lena spent almost all of her time with her cat, because she didn't really had friends at that time. But with spending more time with Lia, Hannah felt that actually she's spending more time with the cat. She remembered a memory where she sat on one of the couch, watched a broadcast on the screen, with the cat in her lap.

She misses those moments, but she thought that after a couple more weeks, they can all resume their normal lives, Hannah with Lena, and Lia with her parents.

. . .

On her way out of the house, she locked all the doors and windows. She visited the neighbor she asked to keep an eye on the house. "Talitha, how are you?" She greeted her.

"Good, thank you Hannah. How you and what are you doing here? I thought you're still on the Citadel."

"Yeah, technically, we still are. I just… jumped home to gather some personal things; I'm leaving when the ship's restocked."

"Aw, that's not good. And how's Lena? And the quarian family?" She asked.

"Lena's good, she got her surgery. She's a biotic now."

"A… biotic? So she can ready minds, or what?" She asked curiously.

"No, she can't, don't worry." Hannah explained in short. "I wanted to ask you, if you could keep looking at the house."

"And keep feeding the cat?"

"Actually, no. I'm taking her with us."

"Alright. I'll do it."

"Thank you Talitha." Hannah said, and hugged the woman. "How is you daughter? Is she good at school?"

Talitha's daughter is also called Talitha. "She's doing great, thanks. I hope we can talk more."

"I'll send you a message when I'm arrived to the Citadel, okay?" Hannah asked.

"Alright." Talitha said. "Well, have a good journey."

"Thank you. Goodbye." Hannah said. She turned around as Talitha closed the front door of their house.

She called a cab to take her to the spaceport. When she arrived there, she still had an hour until the ship launches. She boarded anyway, because she didn't know that to do for more than fifty minutes.

Inside, she was greeted with familiar faces. She remembered some of the crew members, because they had been playing poker while Hannah was in the mess hall. They even wanted to invite her, but she had to turn down the request as she didn't know how to play the game.

"Hey, Shepard." One of the crewmember greeted her.

"Hello, James." She greeted him back. "When do we leave?" She asked.

"Well, the ship is fully restocked. I think the captain will launch us any minute now." She answered. Hannah noticed a hard British accent James had.

"Thank you." Hannah said, and left for her cabin. In about half an hour, the ship was in space, flying toward the system's mass relay.

. . .

Lena realized she didn't really watch any TV broadcasts until that. The apartment they were in had a large, around one and a half meter wide holo screen. She turned it on through her omni-tool, and tried to find a channel she wanted to watch.

Most were news channels, like Citadel Newsnet, or the Alliance's News Network. She found a few entertaining channels, and some sport channels, showing matches from various cultures. Many human sports, such as soccer and football was popular amongst krogans, while less terrifying ones, like tennis and volleyball was common amongst asari and salarians.

Of course, the reverse was true as well. Many alien sports had followers from the humans. There was a game called bet'hile, with asari origins. It required two teams, with each team consisting of five people. It could be played anywhere, but most preferably on a field, 2 meters long, 8 meters wide.

The two teams stood up at the opposing sides of the field. At a given moment, both team had to start running for two balls, positioned at the center of the field. They had to run there, pick up their, and try to 'steal' the other team's ball. From there, they needed to escort the balls back to their starting place, without moving while holding the ball.

The asari considered this game as the most important one, and they organized a tournament each year in Thessia, where they invited the best players from each Citadel races, with the exception of the volus and the elcor. The hanar played quite good in this, as they were allowed to use their mass effect field generators.

Lena found something entertaining. She looked at her omni-tool, which told her that there was still a day until her mother's planned arrival. She leaned back, and enjoyed the show.

. . .

_A/N: Thanks for reading! I'll try to speed things up a little bit in the story. I plan that the batarian invasion on Mindoir will happen at the end of the segment in roughly five or seven more chapters._

_If you can, please favorite, follow, and write a review! In the next episode, while Hannah and Lena checks out the girl's new biotic school on the Citadel, Khorsan tries out his new 'toy' in form of the stolen quarian._


End file.
